Someone has stolen the San Francisco 49ers and replaced them with a team that looks like a shell of its old self. The 2024 version of the defending NFC Champions is stale, sloppy, and prone to playing down to its opponent. Not surprisingly, the 49ers currently stand at 5-6 and are on the verge of missing the postseason. Yet, at the same time, they are only one game out of first place in an underwhelming NFC West.
Lynch recently appeared on the latest "49ers Game Plan" episode with NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco. They discussed why the 49ers have struggled this season. The team has been struck with injuries to several key players this year, including WR Brandon Aiyuk, DE Nick Bosa, QB Brock Purdy, and LT Trent Williams, to name a few.
Purdy is slated to return to the starting lineup on Sunday in Buffalo, but Williams and Bosa will not play. Aiyuk is out for the season. Lynch isn't blaming injuries alone, though. He knows the fanbase has high expectations for the team and can get caught up thinking this season has been "an abomination." And Lynch admits the team has to learn from games like last week (in Green Bay), make a quick turnaround, and move forward.
Lynch said the team believes they can beat anyone; they just have to do it. And it begins with not beating themselves. "I don't think we're playing clean," Lynch said. "When I watch practice, we play very hard. Anyone who challenges the work ethic of this team, our work habits, we're well coached. For whatever reason, we haven't been a very disciplined football team, and that goes down to the very end in terms of finishing."
The 49ers have suffered three convincing losses—Minnesota, Kansas City, and Green Bay. But they also have three losses, which they should have won. And all three (Rams, Cardinals, and Seahawks) should have been wins. In the three divisional losses, the 49ers had a sizeable lead, with a chance to put the other team away, only to let each team hang around long enough to upset the 49ers. And those NFC West losses may keep San Francisco out of the playoffs.
"Everybody knows what has ailed us thus far, three division games where we've been up in the fourth quarter," Lynch told Maiocco. "When you're a good team, you have to put people away. Everybody in this league has good players. Everybody in this league has a lot of pride. And frankly, when you're in the Super Bowl last year, everybody's gunning for you, and we've experienced that, and we haven't handled that well to this point."
Despite the disappointing season, the 49ers are still in the race for the NFC West. There's also an outside possibility of getting a Wild Card berth, although that climb is much steeper.
"Fortunately, you know, all this has gone bad, and we're one game out of first place in our division," Lynch added. "You can get focused in the entirety of it and say, 'Well, it's a real hard schedule, and we're on the road a lot.' What we're focused on right now is one team and that's the Buffalo Bills, and they present plenty of challenges."
Lynch admits that this season has not been acceptable and is not up to the standard the 49ers have set for themselves. They have the talent to make a run to the postseason. The question is, will they put it together in time? Lynch is hopeful they will:
"We got a high-character team, and I'm looking forward to us starting to play like we're capable of playing."
You can watch Maiocco's full interview with Lynch below: