49ers being disrespected, ought to be Super Bowl favorites after beating Broncos

SANTA CLARA — This coming Sunday is the date most 49ers fans had circled on their calendar. The NFC West showdown in Seattle carries extra weight in the building, too.

After all, there’s no better barometer to measure up against than the defending Super Bowl champions. But forget about the Seahawks. The Niners already know they belong.

Whether it plays out more like the 49ers’ last trip to Lumen Field (a beatdown in the divisional round), or the one before that (a thrilling Week 1 win), it shouldn’t alter what they only further proved with a grind-it-out Week 4 win over the Broncos:

The Niners are the most well-rounded — and well-coached — team in the NFL. The only thing standing between them and a February date at SoFi Stadium is their health. And not even a lengthy injury report, or a 33-year-old’s broken ribs, has been able to deter them — not yet.

Despite their phenomenal start to the season, San Francisco boasts the fifth-strongest odds to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. The Rams, Bills, Ravens, and Seahawks all have shorter odds.

That should not be the case.

49ers offer flexibility

Good football teams have a reliable formula that can win games on a regular basis. Great teams don’t need a blueprint. They adapt. They can win in any number of ways.

With a carload of receivers out, and Mike Evans still in pain, the 49ers didn’t need to ride Brock Purdy; they ran it down the Broncos’ throats. When their undermanned defense wilted the previous week, Purdy turned in an MVP-worthy performance to pull out a shootout.

And when that unit is close to full strength, or at least when it has Nick Bosa, it showed that it’s capable of shutting down a supposedly elite offense in their Week 1 spanking of the Rams. 

Even while missing their top pass rusher and a handful of other defensive linemen, the 49ers have been able to generate pressure, thanks to Raheem Morris’ creative blitz packages.

Deebo Samuel was asked last week why the 49ers’ locker room has seemed more subdued than other teams after wins. “In the humblest way possible,” he said, “we’ve been here before.”

In other words, the 49ers have far loftier goals in mind than a 4-0 start to the regular season. Rightfully so, given where they ended up the only other two times they’ve won their first four games in the Shanahan era — trips to the Super Bowl in 2019 and 2023.

Their win over the Broncos, a team that also boasts an experienced head coach, a talented roster and big aspirations, underscored exactly why the 49ers are right to believe in themselves.

Dre Greenlaw has seen it from both sides, and when his former team pulled within three points midway through in the fourth quarter, he knew which sideline he preferred to be on. And it wasn’t the team that had pulled off fourth-quarter comebacks the previous two weeks.

“Their offense, it’s the fourth quarter and their quarterback can do some good things,” the linebacker said. “But I expected to win the game because it’s all about executing over and over and over again. And I think we have the upper hand on that one.”

Are the 49ers old? You bet. Have they looked like it? Better believe it.

By consistently playing smarter, more disciplined football than their opponents.

Against the Broncos, they were flagged for one penalty and didn’t give the ball away once. Their 17 penalties through four weeks are the second-fewest in the NFL, one more than the Colts. Turnovers? None for the past 11 quarters, and one of 10 teams with two or fewer all season.

A defense that sacked the quarterback an NFL-best 68 times last season never got to Purdy, continuing yet another development with an encouraging track record. It was the fourth straight game the 49ers have yet to allow a sack, last done in 2005 by a Colts team that finished 14-2.

Nothing is guaranteed in the NFL — those Colts didn’t even make it to the AFC Championship (though they made the Super Bowl a year later) — but the 49ers are checking all the boxes.

They aced the Australia test and all the follow-up exams. They’re one of three teams that remains undefeated. They don’t leave the Pacific time zone for another three weeks and have a bye week to recover on the backend. And they’ve got reinforcements on the way.

The defensive line could add Mykel Williams as soon as this week, and Bosa sometime after that. The receiving corps will eventually resemble its shape in training camp, with Christian Kirk potentially opening his practice window this week and Demarcus Robinson and De’Zhaun Stribling also due back.

Christian McCaffrey touched the ball more last season than any player since 2014. The 49ers have only needed him on the field for 66.3% of their offensive snaps so far.

Not to mention, general manager John Lynch has hardly shied away from making splashes at the trade deadline. And if there was ever a season to go all in, it’s this one.

For now, the 49ers are enjoying their 4-0 start. They’ll soon turn their focus to Seattle. But they shouldn’t worry too much about whether there’s still a zero in the loss column this time next week.

“It feels legendary,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “It feels great. It feels like we got a great test ahead of us in Seattle coming up. And we wouldn’t want it any other way.”