Heading into the second half of a season where seemingly nothing has gone right, the 49ers are doubling down.
At 4-4, but with a Super Bowl window that the team believes is still wide open, the Niners made no major additions at the NFL trade deadline, adding only a depth defensive tackle (for a seventh-round draft pick two years from now).
Considering the well-documented holes and deficiencies on the roster and the seemingly favorable trade market for buying teams, the decision to effectively stand pat was a surprise.
What’d be even more surprising is if the 49ers are proved right in a few weeks.
Lynch believes he has all the right ingredients to make this the best meal in 30 years of Niners football.
Does anyone outside the facility have confidence that’s what will be plated come winter?
Or, to be more direct: Do the Niners really believe that’s what’s in store for them in the second half?
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That’s a lot to put on the inflamed Achilles tendons of reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey. Remember when he was supposed to play in Week 1 after skipping most of training camp? Well, week-to-week turned into month-to-month and continent-to-continent, as after a trip to Germany for some not-available-in-America treatment, McCaffrey is set to debut on Sunday in Tampa Bay.
Will the Niners throw caution to the wind and have McCaffrey resume his 2023 workload (a league-leading 417 touches last season) in Tampa Bay or will he be part of a backfield committee?
Moderation might be prudent for the player’s longevity, but is it the most prudent tactic for winning games? He might not admit it publicly, but we already know Shanahan’s answer there.
In September, I wrote that McCaffrey’s injuries would define the Niners season. They certainly put a pall on the campaign’s first half, as teams pressed Niners wide receivers with aplomb, playing man-to-man defense against a passing game that prefers to see zone looks, knowing the Niners lacked the appropriate counter, a pass-catching running back.
I see no reason why the season’s definition will change in the second half.
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For McCaffrey’s sake and the 49ers’ (not to mention the countless, hapless fantasy football teams out there), the hope is that the Niners’ running back returns to his old form after a quarter of the year and half a season on the sideline. But even if that were to pass, the looming threat of injury will hang over this squad.
There is no correct formula for his usage. It’s football, after all — the ultimate fight-or-flight sport. Any snap could be his last — there are no half-speed reps at his position in the NFL.
However, with the Niners’ defense undefined and its defensive line play underwhelming, San Francisco cannot afford to be a mediocre offense in the second half of the season. That means they need MVP-caliber contributions from McCaffrey.
Perhaps this is just post-traumatic stress from Warriors basketball. We all remember seeing Kevin Durant’s calf run up his leg in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals. We’re all too familiar with how Klay Thompson’s body compensated for weakness on one side of his body (torn ACL in Game 6 of those aforementioned NBA Finals), leading to the rupture of his Achilles tendon, keeping him out for 2.5 years.
So when we’re told that McCaffrey has tendinitis in not one but both Achilles tendons, trepidation is warranted, and it will be omnipresent for as long as he’s on the field.
Welcome to the second half of what has already been a season from hell for San Francisco.
If Lynch is correct, and McCaffrey’s legs are, too, this team will make the playoffs and push for the title.
And if either is wrong, well, at least the Niners didn’t trade away any significant draft picks this week.