NFL media is seemingly at a loss for words regarding the San Francisco 49ers’ challenges in recent weeks. While there’s an overall agreement that the team is in a rough spot after the Niners blew their second double-digit fourth quarter lead in three weeks, nobody can pinpoint an exact source of the team’s issues.
The vague allusions to the 49ers’ problems began when San Francisco Chronicle columnist Mike Silver got the quote of the week from cornerback Charvarius “Mooney” Ward after Sunday’s 24-23 loss to the Cardinals. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms).
“This year, for sure, it feels weird,” the player told Silver. “It feels real, real weird. I mean, hopefully it’ll turn around, but it’s just real peculiar. We’ve got a lot of talent, and we’re losing games we’re supposed to win.”
As if those words weren’t already cryptic enough, the cornerback added another comment that should have raised eyebrows even higher than they already were.
“Yeah, I know exactly what [the problem] is,” he said, emphasizing the “exactly” according to Silver. The columnist wrote that he prompted Ward to elaborate. The defensive back “started to answer but then thought better of it,” Silver wrote, with Ward ultimately opting to repeat himself: “I know exactly what it is, but I don’t want to say.”
Rather than dig deeper into this, other NFL media members decided to follow the cornerback’s lead of an ambiguous assessment. On Monday, NFL Network’s Peter Schrager recalled a preseason prediction he made about San Francisco that “the vibes just don’t seem right,” and then doubled down on it to say “the vibes do not feel right” five games into the season, particularly after the Niners’ two losses to NFC West opponents.
ESPN’s Field Yates took this not-quite-analytical approach when talking about 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk on the network’s “Fantasy Focus” show.
“I don’t care what they’re saying publicly, I don’t care about the fact that he got the new contract,” Yates said.
“If you think the vibes have been normal between Brandon Aiyuk and the team up until yesterday, I think you’re misreading things. It seems like things have been a little bit off.”
Local media also got in on the “vibes” action, as Bay Area News Group’s Dieter Kurtenbach wrote, albeit facetiously, “The vibes, as the kids would say, have been off for months,” about the Niners in a column published Monday morning. Silver himself doesn’t use the lingo, but he wrote, “Whatever’s going on, something is off,” before getting to Ward’s quote.
Everyone who discusses the “vibes” in San Francisco understands how they’re manifesting within the team between the offensive and defensive woes. However, there seems to be little understanding, or at least explanation, as to how those bad vibes got there in the first place.
Kurtenbach at least offers three suggestions — “off-the-field contract drama, injury spy games, or this team’s general chaos on the field” — but doesn’t commit to any, instead sticking with a “clear” conclusion that through five games, “This team is no juggernaut.”
Silver offers a similar take with, “I’ll say the quiet part out loud: Every year is different in the NFL, and the 2024 Niners don’t seem to have the same juice as their immediate predecessors.”
While that certainly feels true about an underperforming 2-3 team — one might even say it has the right vibes — it does not quite offer the insight to what’s truly ailing the Niners, of which there are many sources to choose from.
Reigning Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey hasn’t played all season. The defense has its third defensive coordinator in as many years. The postseason shortcomings might be beginning to mount up, especially in the wake of a Super Bowl loss that happened less than eight months ago. Maybe it’s all of them, but no one seems to know or be willing to share.
It’s hard to know where or when an answer about these troubles will definitely come out. On one hand, the 49ers are a famously tight-lipped organization, and in this stretch of mediocrity, it stands to reason that they might not be quite so forthcoming about what’s messing with the team.
On the other hand, head coach Kyle Shanahan is no stranger to laying blame where it’s due — just ask former defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. While he’s currently giving bog standard answers to explain the team’s struggles, it could always be a matter of time before a name gets named.
The public blame isn’t likely to come in the immediate future, as Shanahan did express confidence in the team when speaking to reporters on Monday.
“You always know, going through this, that you can never count yourself out until you’re actually eliminated from something,” he said.
“I’ve seen teams start 0-4 and get there before, so there’s lots of things that go into it. But I think every year is different, and we’ve got to write our own story this year, and it has nothing to do with other years.”
Given that there’s still hope from the man in charge after the way this season has gone, the “vibes” analysis might truly be all that’s left to go on.
