LB Spikes confident 49ers will make playoffs

The San Francisco 49ers started 2-0 but have since lost three consecutive games. No one inside the organization is panicking, though. Instead, the focus remains on one game at a time. That means looking toward the Indianapolis Colts, not backward at the Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, and Arizona Cardinals. At 2-3, San Francisco sits in last place within the NFC West. However, general manager John Lynch is confident he and head coach Kyle Shanahan have built a roster that can rebound. The 49ers are in their bye week, and a lot of football remains in this 17-game season. "I'm fully confident [the pieces are in place to turn things around] because of the people in our room and the character of the people in our room, because of the people we have in leadership

The San Francisco 49ers hoped quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo would be able to take part in today's practice and test whether his right leg was strong enough to play on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. Garoppolo didn't, and he has now missed an entire week's worth of practice. After practice, head coach Kyle Shanahan said the 49ers are ruling Garoppolo "out" for the Week 5 matchup and that rookie Trey Lance would start in the veteran's place. With Garoppolo sidelined, Lance has received the majority of the practice reps this week. "The more reps you get, the better you're going to get," general manager John Lynch said this morning on KNBR. "He does things exceptionally well. I think he's taken to our offense well. With every rep, he's going to get

Another week, another close loss, and another game with multiple missed opportunities for the 49ers. It's been the same narrative during the 49ers' current three-game losing streak, and Sunday's loss to the Arizona Cardinals now puts the team at 2-3 on the season as it heads into its bye week. Huge news came Monday afternoon, as Kyle Shanahan noted that rookie quarterback Trey Lance suffered a left knee sprain and will be out for 1-2 weeks, leaving Nate Sudfeld as the only healthy quarterback currently on the roster. But, we'll get to the future later. First, let's break down Sunday's loss with three areas of needed improvement and four positives that came out of the game. The Problems (Yeah, I'm starting with the

Deebo Samuel is the NFL's leading receiver through four weeks of play. He has 490 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns on 28 receptions, which puts him on pace for over 2,000 yards through 17 games. Now, a lot has to happen between now and the end of the season for Samuel to come anywhere close to that milestone. While Calvin Johnson was 36 yards shy of that mark in 2012, no one has reached it. Samuel would have to maintain his current pace and stay healthy to come close, even with the benefit of a 17-game season. While the receiving record would be a significant challenge, NFL Media researcher Dante Koplowitz-Fleming shares