San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid wrote a blog post on his official site addressing fans on the current state of the team.
Reid started by writing that he felt that the 49es defense has improved in the run game, but it's often a single player making mistakes during explosive plays by opponents. "We still have work to do and will continue to emphasize gap discipline in the run game," Reid said.
"If we can begin to clean up some of those mistakes we can start to change the tide of our games," Reid continued. "That's really what stands between us and stringing together more wins. This team is as talented as any team in the league, we just have nail our assignments and things will start to come together for us."
As talented as any team in the league? That's not the first time we have heard that from a 49ers player this season. Aaron Lynch said something similar following the loss to the Buffalo Bills. "We have the team," Lynch said via CSN Bay Area. "We possibly have one of the best teams in the NFL, easily. Hands down. We need to know how to keep finishing games and work together throughout the whole game. Once we get that down, nobody's going to be able to mess with us."
The 49ers coaching staff has continued to state that the main issue with the team's poor performance is execution. "I think, obviously, our job as coaches is to put our players in positions to make plays and we're not doing a good enough job of that right now," head coach Chip Kelly said on Monday.
Reid closed his post by writing, "Time to get to work and put together a full game. Get ready Niner Empire, we have more in store for y'all this season!"
The 49ers have allowed a 100-yard rusher in seven straight games, which is an NFL record. Our own Al Sacco recently pointed out that the historically bad 49ers defense is currently on pace to give up 3,088 yards rushing, which would be the most in the NFL since the 1978 Buffalo Bills. They've given up 240 yards or more on the ground in three straight games, which no team has done since the 1977 Kansas City Chiefs.
On Sunday, they face running back David Johnson of the Arizona Cardinals, who rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns during Week 5 against the 49ers at Levi's Stadium.