It's Week 14 in the NFL, and the up and down San Francisco 49ers still seek consistency. The team looked like it found some during its three-game winning streak before stumbling against the Seattle Seahawks this past weekend and Lumen Field.
It helps the Niners that there is a lot of inconsistency around the league aside from a few notable teams. There are a lot of teams that look like contenders one week and pretenders the next.
One example is the 49ers' next opponent—the Cincinnati Bengals. They looked like a powerhouse in Week 12 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the Los Angeles Chargers dominated them this past weekend. Of course, you can't predict which team will show up on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium. That's why the 49ers need to be ready for Cincinnati's best.
Despite owning a 6-6 record, San Francisco currently sits in the final Wild Card slot in the NFC playoff picture. That just shows how inconsistent the NFL has been this season. 49ers general manager John Lynch also knows that his squad has an opportunity despite some very inconsistent play to this point.
"I just think that maybe there's some opportunity in that we're a .500 team right now, and we're still right there," Lynch said Friday morning on KNBR's Murph & Mac show. "But in order to ascend, we've got to find that consistency, and that's something that we haven't done. We've done it in spurts, but we need to do it more consistently.
"I keep going back to [the Bengals]. They're a good football team. I think they're well-coached. They're playing at a high level. They're talented. They've built their team the right way. So, we're going to have to play consistent football. We're going to have to execute. We're going to have to have some guys step up because we are playing without some important players for us. We've got to find a way to get a win.
"And I really am looking forward [to it] because it has been a very good week of preparation."
One of those players who might need to step up is running back Jeff Wilson Jr. On Thursday, head coach Kyle Shanahan said he wasn't optimistic that the team's leading rusher, Elijah Mitchell, would be available this week. The rookie running back is in the concussion protocol and is dealing with a minor knee injury.
Wilson spent the first eight weeks of the season on the physically-unable-to-perform list due to an offseason knee injury. The fourth-year running back was limited against the Seahawks as he dealt with a flare-up in that same knee.
"Jeff has looked really good this week," Lynch said. "He has. Coming back from that knee, he's been back, but then there's the time that you kind of get your legs underneath you. The good news, for us, is this week in practice, he looked like he was moving extremely well and running with great confidence. Jeff Wilson is a really good player.
"We'll see where we're at with Elijah. He's still in that protocol, so that kind of decides itself. But we're really encouraged by the way Jeff has looked this week."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch below.