The San Francisco 49ers kicked off the season with an impressive 5-0 record, looking unbeatable in the process. However, the team is now grappling with its second consecutive loss, a turn of events that seemed unimaginable just two weeks ago.
The 49ers needed the win in Monday night's matchup against the Minnesota Vikings to keep pace with the Philadelphia Eagles in the race for home-field advantage. Instead of bouncing back from one tough loss, they faced another, prompting a search for answers in the week ahead.
"The NFL will humble you every step of the way, and getting off to a 5-0 start, you kind of get that confidence that we are who we need to be. But the NFL does that. It's good players, good schemes, and we're going to face another good team this week, so we got to be ready."
The defense surrendered a staggering 452 total yards to the Vikings in the humbling 22-17 defeat. Quarterback Kirk Cousins dissected the defense, amassing 378 passing yards with surgical precision, completing 77.8 percent of his pass attempts.
"As good as we think we are every single week, it's the NFL, and if one guy is off, then they're going to make a play," Bosa said. "And Kirk Cousins is a really good quarterback. He was making some good checks against our looks."
The Vikings' first punt didn't come until the fourth quarter, a testament to their offense's ability to consistently sustain drives.
"I was real disappointed that we couldn't get them off the field," head coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game. "I mean, they had one punt today. We had one punt. They had one turnover. We had three turnovers.
"So, I think when both teams only punt once, it looks like it's going to be a shootout. But we ended up turning over two more times than them, and it was a five-point game, so almost as simple as that."
Despite the setbacks, linebacker Fred Warner remains optimistic in the locker room, believing the team can quickly reverse its fortunes.
"We've shown what we're capable of," Warner asserted. "We got to obviously just put it together and do it when it matters. ... [A]t the end of the day, I want our mental toughness to go up. I want to win in any form or fashion. I don't care if it's ugly. Like, all right, we'll figure it out later on, but let's find a way to get this done.
"Yeah, it's back to the drawing board. Obviously, we've got a big game coming up against the Bengals at home. It's a must-win."