It may not have looked exactly how they wanted, but the San Francisco 49ers secured an important 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 10.
There's a lot to iron out for the 49ers, particularly on special teams, where a botched punt and three missed field goals changed the tenor of Sunday's game. However, their victory was decisive for Keeping pace in the NFC West and NFC playoff race.
A good example of how important their Week 10 win was is the USA TODAY NFL Power Rankings. San Francisco started the week at No. 16, but landed in 11th placeone spot behind the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals.
Although they didn't play their best football in Week 10, given their history post-bye under head coach Kyle Shanahan, there's reason to believe better performance is to come.
Via Nate Davis of USA TODAY:
Their post-bye record in 2024 (with RB Christian McCaffrey) is 1-0. Their post-bye record since 2021 is 31-9.
That's a nice statistic that should give 49ers fans some optimism. However, the 2024 season didn't go particularly well for ten weeks and the team didn't show the ability to flip a switch and dominate a game for 60 minutes.
Reducing self-inflicted wounds could quickly make the 49ers a Super Bowl contender again. If they continue to make these mistakes, they won't stay as a team in the top 10 much longer, with games against NFC West rival Seattle, the No. 9 Green Bay Packers and the No. 4 Buffalo Bills coming up.
If the 49ers want to compete this year, they'll have to prove it on this stretch.
