While the San Francisco 49ers have made it clear that they’re the team to beat in not just their conference, but the entire league, many other top teams have struggled to be consistent over the first five weeks of the season. Last year’s playoff teams have made it unclear as to who can or will pull away and become a dominant force over the course of the season.
Ever since the 49ers traded for Christian McCaffery, they’ve been a completely dominant team on both sides of the ball. To go along with their excellent run game, they have several outside weapons such as Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk to pair with their new quarterback Brock Purdy, who has gone undefeated in all games he’s played from start to finish. On the other side of the ball, the defense is the best in football. They have implemented the perfect system considering their personnel. They’ve won comfortably in every game. During their biggest test of the season in primetime against the Cowboys, they dominated, winning 42-10. Purdy was fantastic, picking apart the elite Dallas defense and the Cowboys’ offense couldn’t get anything going all night, only having two good drives resulting in 10 total points.
Despite the success and consistency of San Francisco, the other top teams have looked questionable. After losing to the Jets during the season opener, the Bills have rattled off three fantastic wins, but they struggled in London against the Jaguars, losing 25-20 and dropping to 3-2 W on the season. The Eagles, despite still being undefeated, have been in several close games that easily could have been a loss, and Week Five against the Rams was no different. With the return of Cooper Kupp, the Rams offense had a little more firepower, and the lead for a little while. The Eagles won, but the Rams may have exposed how to beat them. Out in Minnesota, the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes were without Taylor Swift in the stands for the first time in three weeks, and it may have been felt, as the Chiefs looked inconsistent and needed a controversial non-call to help them win the game against the struggling Vikings. The Cowboys got crushed by the 49ers, suffering their second loss of the season. They will now be playing catch-up in the East.
As the rest of the league will try to catch up to San Francisco, the other teams need to be more consistent against teams that are of similar level. It’s only Week Five, but the playoff picture will start to take shape as the rest of the big games get played.
