Yet the Niners quietly entered the contest with a 3-0 record, coming off their bye week and looking forward to sending the Browns below the .500 mark following the contest.
And that's what San Francisco did in decisive fashion, holding Cleveland to 180 all-purpose yards, a 1-of-11 mark on third downs and quarterback Baker Mayfield to 100 yards passing and a rating of 13.4.
Yes, 13.4.
According to right tackle Mike McGlinchey, speaking to reporters after the game, this decisive win in front of a national audience should finally garner respect about what the 49ers have done this season.
"We're not worried about the national attention," McGlinchey said after the game. "We love you guys in the media, but we're not too worried about your guys' opinions of us. The other 30 teams in the NFL were watching the game tonight, and I hope they saw what we are capable of.
"All this talk about us being the 'fake' undefeated team should be over from now on."
It's a pretty convincing argument. The Niners managed 275 rushing yards during the game, while doing a good job bottling up Mayfield's two primary offensive weapons, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and running back Nick Chubb.
San Francisco surely earned some respect from Beckham.
"To be honest, you know what happened," the star receiver said. "They beat us in every phase of the game. They ran the ball down us. They stopped us on defense. They played on special teams. They just did everything."
The 49ers had some issues on special teams, yes, including three missed field-goal tries by kicker Robbie Gould, although one was blocked and another appeared to be botched on the snap, at least according to Kyle Shanahan.
Despite the win, Shanahan isn't going to have his squad buy into the hype.
"The same way you handle 0-5," Shanahan responded, when asked if he would buy into the media attention surrounding his still-undefeated team. "You don't pay attention. You just go to work. ... I know today was a lopsided game, but the league's too hard to be overconfident. Every week is a tough week, and we've got a lot of work to do."
Regardless, San Francisco remains one of two undefeated squads this deep in the season, the other being the 5-0 New England Patriots.
The 49ers will look to keep the unbeaten streak going on a short week, traveling to face the 3-2 Los Angeles Rams in Week 6.
Written By:
Peter Panacy has been writing about the 49ers since 2011 for outlets like Bleacher Report, Niner Noise, 49ers Webzone, and is occasionally heard as a guest on San Francisco's 95.7 FM The Game and the Niners' flagship station, KNBR 680. Feel free to follow him, or direct any inquiries to his Twitter account.
All articles by Peter Panacy
Peter Panacy
Peter Panacy has been writing about the 49ers since 2011 for outlets like Bleacher Report, Niner Noise, 49ers Webzone, and is occasionally heard as a guest on San Francisco's 95.7 FM The Game and the Niners' flagship station, KNBR 680. Feel free to follow him, or direct any inquiries to his Twitter account.
All articles by Peter Panacy
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