It's postseason time, and the San Francisco 49ers are gearing up to face the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in the Wild Card round of the NFC playoffs. The team will fly to the East Coast for the matchup. And it won't be easy to come away with a win. The Eagles have a talented offense and a dominant defense.
We opened the 49ers Webzone Mailbag this week. Thank you for the many great questions. Let's jump in and take a look at them.
Who will be the starting linebackers this weekend, as Bethune and Winters were injured on Saturday? - Ryan G.
Tatum Bethune (groin) is out for the rest of the season. The other two LBs, Dee Winters (ankle) and Luke Gifford (quad), will be evaluated later this week. If those two can't play, expect your starters to be some combination of Eric Kendricks, Curtis Robinson, Garret Wallow, and newly signed Kyzir White. Jalen Graham could also be elevated if Winters or Gifford are unavailable.
White will be brand-new to the 49ers, but he's an upgrade over some of the others, especially if Winters is out. I'm just not sure if he will be ready to go in only a few days.
Likelihood of Pearsall and Trent playing this week? - Ryan G.
I'd be surprised if Ricky Pearsall doesn't play. But we'll have to see. Sometimes he doesn't play when I think he will. As I write this on Wednesday, he is not practicing, which isn't a good sign. But he could still play. He played a couple of weeks ago, despite barely practicing during the week.
As shocked as I'll be if Pearsall doesn't play, I'll be equally as surprised if Trent Williams does play. Hamstring injuries are difficult to predict. So I don't expect Williams to be ready, but I'm hopeful he will be. And I certainly won't count him out. But Williams is not practicing on Wednesday, either.
We'll know more about all the injured players as the week progresses.
With Philly's D being similar to Seattle's, how do you want to see the Niners' O attack to be in a position to score enough to win? - Scott B.
As good as the Eagles' defense is, stopping the run isn't their strength. If the 49ers are going to score on Philadelphia, they will have to move the ball on the ground. You can't become one-dimensional against the Eagles, or their pass rushers will wreak havoc against Brock Purdy and the passing game.
The recipe for beating the Philly defense is to run the ball well, eat up the clock, and take care of the football. If the 49ers can do that, they have a great shot to win this game. If they can't run the ball, it's going to be a long day.
I'm going to assume Saleh will draw some interest for the head coaching vacancies, but do you think there's any chance we retain him as DC for another year, or is he all but gone? Also, do you think Gus Bradley is the heir apparent, or might they go after Raheem? - Will S.
There's certainly a chance Robert Saleh could stay in San Francisco another year. But if he leaves for a head coaching position, Gus Bradley would be the frontrunner. I don't know if he came to the 49ers with any kind of agreement that he'd get the job if Saleh left or not.
If there were no agreement like that, then I'm sure Kyle Shanahan would love to bring on Raheem Morris. They're close, and Shanahan is a big fan of Morris. But the former Atlanta Falcons head coach already has a few teams interested in him as their head coach. So Morris may not be available.
I keep hearing that without Ricky, the Niners don't have a deep threat. But isn't that why they drafted Watkins and Cowing? Where have they been? - Andy G.
The 49ers opened Jacob Cowing's practice window this week, and he is practicing with the team. But I doubt he'll play on Sunday. They aren't going to ramp up a player who has missed the entire season and have him play after practicing for only a few days.
If the 49ers advance, we could see Cowing, but I still think it's more likely that we see him next season.
As for Jordan Watkins, remember that Shanahan is tough on wide receivers. He played that position in college and coached wide receivers early in his coaching career. It's hard for young receivers, especially rookies, to make much of an impact with Shanahan.
One reason is that the 49ers ask a lot of their receivers, including wanting them to be effective blockers. So when you factor in the blocking and having to learn an NFL system, it's a tough transition for young wideouts.
I expect 2026 to be the year we see more from Cowing and Watkins. If they can get those guys on the field next year, their slow offense will suddenly become much faster.
Lots of injuries, sure, but also lots of misses in the past 4 drafts. Why is there not more heat on John Lynch? - Bobby J.
The Miami Dolphins have requested to interview three 49ers front office members for their vacant GM position (49ers VP of Player Personnel Tariq Ahmad, Assistant General Manager R.J. Gillen, and Director of Scouting and Football Operations Josh Williams).
The Falcons requested an interview with Williams for a high-profile role within their organization. Would there be other teams interested in these guys if the 49ers were that bad at drafting? Sure, they've had misses. But even Bill Walsh missed.
Remember, 2025 was supposed to be a rebuild, so to speak. "Younger and cheaper" was the theme. Yet, this team, with many, many injuries, had a chance to win the top seed in the conference. I'd say that's reason to be proud of what they've accomplished.
Happy New Year. My expectations are low as I feel we have overachieved all year. With that said, how do we fix the run defense? I assume we will have different faces in with injuries this week. Maybe addition by subtraction? I feel we have a slugger's chance to beat the Eagles. - Lowbridge
I'm not sure they can fix the run defense at this point, although missing fewer tackles would be a great start. Saleh will have to devise a strong game plan. But it's ultimately on the players to execute that plan. When you have guys like Robinson (who has mostly been a special teamer), Kendricks (who no other team wanted), and Wallow (who no one has even heard of), you don't have the kind of players who can impact a game that much.
This group is a long way from Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw.
Besides saying a novena or two on rosary beads, what else do the Niners need to beat the Eagles on the road? - Ed H.
Voodoo? Are there any 49ers fans out there who are a practicing witch doctor?
Why does Kyle seem to play so tightly and conservatively during big games? There were a couple of 4th & shorts where he decided to punt instead of going for it. And I don't think I saw Tonges on the field! - Andy G.
Shanahan doesn't always play conservatively in big games, but I felt like he did against Seattle. The decision to punt on that 4th and short was not my favorite decision. But the entire team, including the coaches, seemed off last week. It was a bad time for everyone to have their worst game.
This is what I don't like about Shanahan….Both Purdy and CMC struggled in the Seattle game. If he is such an offensive guru, why didn't he plug in Mac Jones and Brian Robinson, Jr., and Jake Tonges more in the mix in some of the plays just to throw Seattle offside, so to speak? He has a good backup QB, a running back, and a tight end! It would have kept Seattle on its toes! He should have called more trick plays since nothing was working! Shanahan IS TOO CONSERVATIVE! - Smooth A.
Purdy may have struggled, but it wasn't because he didn't play well. He had no time to throw and was facing seven defenders in coverage. So his receivers weren't getting open quickly enough. I like Mac Jones, but he would've been sacked eight times if he had played against the Seahawks.
McCaffrey had no room to run. Neither did Brian Robinson. I'm not sure playing him more would've made much of an impact.
As for Jake Tonges, he doesn't play with Kittle as much because he doesn't block well enough. It's as simple as that.
What happened on Saturday? That was a playoff game. The week prior was a playoff game, and you scored 42. - Ronnie W.
The 49ers played against a much better defense. The offensive line couldn't block, the receivers couldn't create separation, and they couldn't run the ball. And when they were able to move the ball, they turned it over at the two-yard line. That's a recipe for disaster.
So, should everyone be back for next year? - R. Jordan
No, the 49ers have a handful of players scheduled for unrestricted free agency. Some of those include DL Yetur Gross-Matos, DL Jordan Elliott, DL Kalia Davis, DL Kevin Givens, K Eddy Piñeiro, P Thomas Morstead, WR Jauan Jennings, RB Brian Robinson, LB Luke Gifford, LG Spencer Burford, G Ben Bartch, WR Skyy Moore, and WR Kendrick Bourne. Just to name a few.
Does York extend Shanahan for 5 years for $100M next September? - Invader49er
It's possible. Shanahan is signed through 2027. I don't know if Jed York will extend his coach in 2026, but he should. The 49ers have one of the top coaches in the NFL, and they need to make sure they keep him as long as he wants to stay.
Who had more points on Week 18, Jake Moody or the Niners? - Danny P.
Since you're asking this question, I'm going to assume Jake Moody scored more points in week 18 than the three San Francisco scored. But how about the other weeks? Moody missed more field goals in week one than Piñeiro has since he took over in Week 2 this season.
That's all we have for this edition of the 49ers Webzone Mailbag. We'll be back with a brand new one next week.
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