Following an impressive 5-0 season start, the San Francisco 49ers have faced back-to-back losses, the most recent against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.
NFL legend Jerry Rice expressed concerns before this two-game stretch, questioning if the 49ers might be heading for a letdown.
"Even going into that Cleveland game, I felt like it was a setup game, where Cleveland, they actually got a good defense," Rice told Tom Pelissero, Judy Battista, and Mike Garafolo on NFL Network's The Insiders. "So the Niners, you've got to take teams like that more seriously. So you have to go in there, and you have to take that W."
Cleveland put an end to San Francisco's 15-game regular-season winning streak. The team hoped to rebound on Monday night, instead stumbling to a 22-17 loss and dropping to third place in the NFC standings.
The 49ers defense surrendered a season-high 452 total yards to quarterback Kirk Cousins and the Vikings, who were desperate for a win to keep up with the Detroit Lions in the NFC North.
"And it was the same thing with Minnesota," Rice continued. "They (the Vikings) were playing [at] home, Monday Night Football, backs against the wall, and they came out, and they made plays. And the Niners, towards the end, had a couple of bad plays, interceptions, and it just looked like they were not in sync."
Rice added that the 49ers have what it takes to "bounce back" from an ugly two-game stint. That will begin this week. Eager to reverse their fortunes, San Francisco aims to end their losing streak at home on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.
"We've got to make sure that we do everything from now all the way until Sunday, when that game's over, to find a way to beat the Bengals," head coach Kyle Shanahan said after Monday's loss. "And then we go into our bye week. ... We've got about five-and-a-half days left. Got to focus all on that and make sure we go in that bye week 6-2, not 5-3."