Are The 49ers The Best NFL Team?
The 49ers have dismantled two of the top three NFC teams this season by a combined score of 84-29.
Through the first 12 weeks of the season, there was no clear-cut best team in the league, until now. The San Francisco 49ers are undoubtedly the best team in the NFL, and it isn’t particularly close right now. They started slow in the season dropping three straight games but seem to be hitting their stride the past few weeks. They just finished dismantling the Philadelphia Eagles, who have the best record in the league, by 23 points. That was by far the most impressive win by any team this season. So, what makes the 49ers so good? Well, let's talk about that.
What makes the 9ers offense intriguing is that they don’t have a top offensive line like every other top team. They have star left tackle Trent Williams and that’s basically it. As a unit, the offensive line ranks in the middle of the pack. What makes their offense a top five though, is the skill positions. RB Christian McCaffery, WRs Deebo Samuel & Brandon Aiyuk, and TE George Kittle make life much easier for QB Brock Purdy. You give the ball to any of them, and they can take it to the house every time. Since Shanahan became head coach in 2017, they’ve always had one of the better rosters in the league. The position they always lacked though, was the QB position. One thing about this offense is that it’s QB-friendly. They don’t need a top QB to compete for championships. That’s why they were able to get to the Super Bowl in 2019 with a guy like Jimmy Garoppolo. Now they have a guy in Purdy, who is younger and a better athlete than Garoppolo. They don’t ask him to do too much. Just get the ball in the hands of your playmakers and don’t turn the ball over, which is extremely good at. Occasionally they will need him to make some tough throws and put the team on his back, which he has been doing when that time comes. Right now, the 9ers offense seems to be clicking on all cylinders and they just finished putting up 42 points on the Eagles, which included scoring six TDs on six straight drives.
On the other side of the ball, their defense is also one of the top units in the league. Adding pass rusher Chase Young at the trade deadline has helped the defense tremendously and they are looking scarier than ever. We all know how good they are on that side of the ball with guys like Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw, Chase Young, and Javon Hargrave just to name a few. They have shown to be a bit vulnerable against the pass at times, but when you have a top pass rush that will slow down the passing game with no time to create separation for the pass catchers. It’s not easy to shut down offenses like the Eagles but the 9ers made that look easy. Especially going to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia where the Eagles hadn’t lost all season at home. To put up 42 points is very impressive and that makes you undoubtedly the best team right now.
Currently, there are not any teams that look as complete as the 9ers from all the top teams record-wise. Eagles are 10=2 and have the best record right now. While their offense is top 5 in most categories, their defense has been awful. More notably the secondary which is allowing the fourth most passing yards in the league. The Cowboys might be the closest team to them as far as overall team goes. Both their offense and defense are top 10 in most categories. Though they played earlier in the season, and the 9ers clobbered them by 32. The last NFC team that could compete with them would be the Detroit Lions. Their situation is identical to the Eagles, great offense but terrible defense. They are also a younger team, so that wouldn’t help them either. Now when it comes to the AFC teams, there’s also no comparable team. The defending champs Kansas City Chiefs have been spiraling as of late and don’t look like themselves. The Jacksonville Jaguars might have just lost their star QB Trevor Lawrence for a few games due to an ankle injury. The Miami Dolphins have been a great team this year but have yet to beat any of the good teams they have faced, so we don’t know how good they are. That leaves us with in my opinion the best AFC team right now, the Baltimore Ravens. Defensively, the Ravens are on par with the 9ers and these look like the two best defenses in the league. Where I think the 9ers separate themselves is offensively. While the Ravens have the better QB, the 9ers are superior at every other position on offense. The Ravens also losing their star TE Mark Andrews for the year doesn’t help. You can see the impact it has made on their offense since he's been gone.
The 9ers will have more opportunities coming up to prove they are the top team. On Christmas day they host the Ravens. That is also a potential Super Bowl matchup. With the 9ers hitting their stride, and the Ravens offense not playing its best right now, it’ll be interesting to see how well the Ravens offense does versus another top defense. If the 9ers can beat the Ravens, it seems like they will be able to lock up the one seed and have the NFC playoffs go through San Fran, which would be scary for every other team in the conference.