49ers overreactions: Will Brown's play force team to trade Hufanga?
49ers overreactions: Will Brown's play force team to trade Hufanga? originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The 49ers have climbed out of the hole they dug for themselves with a three-game losing streak in the middle of the season.
Now, the team’s main regular-season goal is within reach.
On Sunday, if — and these are three big “ifs” — Dallas loses at Miami, Philadelphia falls at home to the New York Giants and Detroit is defeated at Minnesota. . .
Then the 49ers could unwrap the No. 1 seed in the NFC on Christmas night against the Baltimore Ravens at Levi’s Stadium.
The 49ers (11-3) have what amounts to a two-game lead for the NFC’s top spot over Dallas, Philadelphia and Detroit due to tie-breaker advances with three games remaining.
The 49ers have not provided their fanbase with much material for overreactions, but our followers on Threads will give it a try:
As long as Purdy is on the field, it doesn’t matter who he has around him, the 49ers are always in good shape. (dmoney_grausz)
Overreaction? No.
Yes, Brock Purdy is that good.
As long as he’s playing in a system that makes sense and stresses the rules of opposing defenses, Purdy is going to have success.
It has been amazing to watch him this season compared to other bigger-named (and bigger-armed) quarterbacks.
Purdy sees the game differently, and he goes through his reads so effortlessly that it’s often difficult to tell if the person who catches the pass is No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 or was not in the progression at all.
Purdy leads the NFL with a 119.0 passer rating, 29 touchdown passes and a 9.9-yard average per attempt.
We feel confident in stating this . . . there’s not a quarterback in the league coach Kyle Shanahan would take in place of him right now.
Purdy and CMC will be the first players to ever share an MVP (south_lake_taco)
Overreaction? Yes.
It will be nearly impossible for anyone to share the MVP because of the scoring system used by The Associated Press for the 50 national voters.
But if it were possible, Purdy and Christian McCaffrey tying for the NFL’s top individual honor would satisfy everyone associated with the 49ers.
It seems clear to us here at Overreactions Central that Purdy is the runaway favorite for MVP.
Jalen Hurts might not even be top-five anymore, and Dak Prescott’s candidacy took a huge hit with his dud performance against the Buffalo Bills in Week 15.
There is only one person, it seems, standing in the way of a 49ers player winning the award.
Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson can make up a lot of ground on Monday night if he has a monster game and the Ravens upset the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium and take the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
With his incredible blend of playmaking as a runner and receiver, McCaffrey is clearly a top-five candidate. But we also know the MVP award is an uphill climb for any non-quarterback.
The perfect solution is this: Purdy for league MVP and McCaffrey for NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
Boom! It’s settled.
The O-line is way better than their ranking (coyote678)
Overreaction? No.
Not to say, we told you so, but . . .
After right tackle Colton McKivitz struggled in Week 1 against the Pittsburgh Steelers’ T.J. Watt, there were calls for him to get benched.
We could understand the concerns from outside the building, but based on what we saw and knew, there seemed to be little doubt that McKivitz was the best option for the job to replace Mike McGlinchey and he'd be all right.
We do not know where the 49ers rank among offensive lines -- or what measures are used to grade offensive lines — but the guys up front have proven themselves over and over this season.
The 49ers’ O-line won the head-to-head battle against the Philadelphia Eagles’ vaunted defensive line. The line seems to be improving on a weekly basis.
They have provided Purdy with the necessary protection to put together the best season of any quarterback in the NFL this season.
And they have created enough space to help McCaffrey be the most productive running back in the league.
So hats off to McKivitz, Aaron Banks, Jake Brendel, Spencer Burford, Jon Feliciano and some dude named Trent Williams for rounding into a unit that forms one of the better offensive lines in the NFL.
Brown will drive the 49ers to trade Hufanga this offseason (intihemp)
Overreaction? Yes.
Rookie safety Ji’Ayir Brown has played well since taking over for All-Pro Talanoa Hufanga. He experiences issues with the finer points, but that is to be expected for a player with so little professional experience.
Let’s put it this way: Brown has played well enough for the 49ers’ defense to continue to roll after the bye week.
But there is no reason for the 49ers to move on from Hufanga when he is under contract for another season at a fixed low cost.
Veteran safety Tashaun Gipson re-signed with the 49ers in the offseason on a one-year deal. Gipson, 33, considered retirement after the end of last season, so it's uncertain whether he would even want to play another year.
Instead of moving on from Hufanga, the more likely scenario is for Brown and Hufanga to be starting together in the 49ers' defensive backfield a year from now.
This team is better than the teams in the past (2019-22) because the offense can compensate for defensive shortfalls by scoring, whereas in the past the team relied heavily on the defense to win games. (andrewvlahov)
Overreaction? No.
We agree with the general premise, but we also believe last year’s team ended the season with a similar ability to outscore teams.
Once Purdy took over as the starter last season and McCaffrey became fully integrated into the system, that offense was versatile and powerful.
But the season ended when . . . well, you know the story about what happened in Philadelphia.
Assuming the next three weeks go without any major incident, the 49ers will enter the postseason as the prohibitive favorite because of their balance on both sides of the ball.
Their defense does not necessarily have to come up with an "A" game because their versatile offense can score points in bunches.
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