Page 5 - The Niners News Today

The San Francisco took just two drives to show that they returned from their bye week looking once again like the dominant team that started the season rather the one that stumbled to three straight losses. A three-and-out defensively that ended with a sack followed by a touchdown drive capped by a throw from Brock Purdy to Brandon Aiyuk set the stage for the 34-3 victory over Jacksonville on Sunday.

ERS DEFENSE: OVERALL (10), RUSH (5), PASS (19), SCORING (4). JAGUARS OFFENSE: OVERALL (14), RUSH (14), PASS (14), SCORING (10). JAGUARS DEFENSE: OVERALL (23), RUSH (3), PASS (30), SCORING (8).

Jaguars left tackle Cam Robinson spent several hours over three days this week watching cutups from a team not even on Jacksonville’s schedule. Robinson and his fellow linemen broke down clips of the Washington Commanders and former defensive end Chase Young while trying to project how he’ll fit with the San Francisco 49ers. “It’s just understanding the scheme he was in in Washington and how it’s different than the scheme he’s in now.”

The San Francisco 49ers looked like the NFL's best team when they raced through the first five weeks when they were never really threatened through five straight wins. The past three games showed some flaws as the defense struggled to generate pressure and in coverage, the offense couldn't manage to score more than 17 points and the Niners lost three straight. San Francisco (5-3) got a bye week to regroup and now will hope for a repeat of the past two seasons when second-half surges ...

The San Francisco 49ers showed they could thrive as front-runners during a 5-0 start to the season. Brock Purdy turned the ball over three times in the final 16 minutes and San Francisco's defense struggled to slow down Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals, leading to a 31-17 loss Sunday that was the third straight for the Niners following their dominant start to the season. “We haven’t shown that we can play from behind and come back and win a football game,” lineba...

The San Francisco 49ers got some needed help for their struggling defense, acquiring edge rusher Chase Young from the Washington Commanders for a conditional third-round draft pick. Two people with knowledge of the deal confirmed that Young was headed to San Francisco pending a physical following the trade agreed to before Tuesday's deadline. Young will team up with his former Ohio State teammate Nick Bosa to give the Niners (5-3) a formidable edge rushing duo and provide a needed boost f...

Brock Purdy keeps giving the ball away, San Francisco's heralded defense is struggling to generate stops and the early season dominance for the 49ers is firmly in the past. The Niners stumbled for a third straight week, getting picked apart all game by Joe Burrow and failing to generate nearly enough offense in a 31-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday that sends San Francisco stumbling into its bye week. “It hurts,” Purdy said.

Dak Prescott just had his best game of the season in a second consecutive win for the Dallas Cowboys since they were blown out by San Francisco. The star quarterback knows as well as anybody that both victories, including 43-20 over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, won't do much to change the perception from the 42-10 loss to the Niners. Prescott also knows a victory this Sunday would change things.

The San Francisco 49ers showed they could win lopsided games when they raced out to a 5-0 start and were barely challenged in the second half in any of those games. Pulling it out down the stretch in a tight game has been a different issue. A few key mistakes have doomed San Francisco in tight losses the past two weeks against Cleveland and Minnesota.

ERS PLAYER TO WATCH: RB Christian McCaffrey scored two TDs last week to move him into a tie for the league lead with 11 on the season. McCaffrey has scored a TD in his past 16 games in the regular season or playoffs, one shy of Lenny Moore's NFL record. McCaffrey's 13 career games with a TD catch and run are second most all time to Marshall Faulk's 15.