The rollercoaster rolls on. With the 20-10 win onSunday Night Football over the Atlanta Falcons, the 49ers are 5-2, and realistically, in spite of everything, have only really been comprehensively outplayed in one game: last week’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This is a team that remains without its starting quarterback, two starting receivers, and it’s two best defensive players. It’s difficult not to be proud of this team. They’ve shown up in almost every game and played well, and more often than not, I write this column from a position of being on Victory Monday. You can’t ask for much else, can you?

Whatever the reasons, this team keeps changing the narrative. Dead after Bosa’s injury? They won the game, and beat the Rams shortly thereafter. Warner’s injury being the final bullet? They come back and beat a Falcons team that the world seemed convinced was contenders for beating the Buffalo Bills. Sellers at the trade deadline? They now might be buyers after all. In a world where Green Bay were crowned Super Bowl champions in September, and Baker Mayfield is being handed the MVP in October, the 49ers lead the NFC West, and barely anyone seems to have noticed.

The Unsung Heroes Lead the Way

With so many players out, it fell to this ragtag bunch of backups, and their backups, to pull out yet another life-affirming win. Let’s quickly whip through the unsung heroes on the current 49ers team, and what they’ve done for this team:

• Tatum Bethune: Making the start in the place of Fred Warner, Bethune did a passable impression of the great linebacker, making 10 total tackles, but also being a menace in coverage and on the blitz. Bethune isn’t the athlete Warner is, but it was apparent from his first snaps in the 2024 preseason that what he did have were instincts. They were on full display on Sunday. If he can keep playing at this level, #48 can go far.

• Bryce Huff: It’d be easy to list the entire defensive line here, as they found a new level on Sunday, consistently generating pressures and reducing Bijan Robinson to a peripheral figure despite the entire SNF broadcast seeming to be about him. Alfred Collins, who recovered a fumble, Mykel Williams and Sam Okuayinonu all played well, but Huff stood out the most, with a sack and numerous other good plays. As his former team, the Eagles, bring Brandon Graham out of retirement to play edge rusher for them, they may actually still be paying a better player to rush the edge in the Bay Area.

• The interior offensive line, but particularly backup center Matt Hennessy: Hennessy stepped in for the much-maligned Jake Brendel early in the game following the latter’s hamstring injury, and honestly, he may have won the job. Hennessy was consistent and strong in the run game, and made no glaring errors in pass protection either. After a tough few weeks for the middle of San Francisco’s offensive line, he, Connor Colby and Dominick Puni all went up a level to allow Christian McCaffrey to thrive, including throwing him into the endzone late in the fourth quarter.

• Chase Lucas: A peripheral figure for the most part since his star turn in preseason, Lucas has now been involved in two vital 4th down stops–one to win the recent battle with the Rams, and yesterday, when his excellent coverage on Drake London made a momentum-shifting play in the game. The 49ers had been on their heels a little throughout the second half, not helped by some poor offensive rhythm and playcalling. Lucas’s pass breakup turned the game back in the team’s favor, and the 49ers never looked back. Lucas was also an effective blitzer, and continues to earn the right to more playing time.

• Eddy Piniero: Perhaps kicker isn’t the sexiest position on the roster, but when you have someone who you can count on to land three points from a good range on a consistent basis, it changes the whole structure of your offense. Not only has San Francisco’s scoring improved, but the fanbase’s blood pressure has dropped too.

An honorable mention should also go to Malik Turner, who may not play again this year, but he recorded three excellent special teams plays in his single game elevation from the practice squad. On a team that has consistently struggled for competent special teams play, that was good to see.

Christian McCaffrey is Back

Now, let’s talk about a star. There’s a narrative that’s formed all season that Christian McCaffrey has "lost a step," largely because his performance running the ball. His paltry 3.0 yards per carry average was indeed worthy of criticism, but it’s also fair to point out that McCaffrey was often raging against the dying of his run blocking, with the aforementioned interior offensive line particularly at fault. He did still find ways to contribute, being a favoured target in the offense and recording some absolutely huge plays, but the Shanahan offense always favours a strong running game.

That came back on Sunday, with McCaffrey running for 129 yards (with no-nonsense backup Brian Robinson adding a further 36) and two touchdowns. He continued to impress as a receiver, too, catching seven passes, including a vital third-and-long completion. But the sudden appearance of the team’s rushing attack could’ve actually been down to another player’s return: All-Pro tight end George Kittle.

Kittle missed out on the box score, recording no catches, but was clearly impactful in the run game, not just regularly moving his man, but also creating space for others to work in. The statistics bear it out, and hopefully Kittle’s return means the 49ers ground game is finally back on track.

Coach(es) of the Year?

To return to my original theme in the introduction of this article, the 49ers are 5-2, despite players missing that would cripple most NFL rosters. That ought to put Kyle Shanahan, in my mind, in pole position for the Coach of the Year award from the NFL if the team sustains this down the stretch.

Should that be the case, though, he might want to share some of his award and resultant kudos with his defensive coordinator, Robert Saleh. I have, at times, been critical of Saleh, and I do know that there are some things he’s going to do in a game, coverage-wise, that infuriate me. But when he returned to the Bay Area this offseason, he was handed a defense shorn of veteran talent and with a number of rookies and youngsters to build, develop, and introduce into starting roles. Apart from one half against Tampa Bay (when the team was mostly still suffering from the shock of losing its emotional leader in Warner), its been mission accomplished. It’s probably not an exaggeration to say that with Steve Wilks or Nick Sorensen coaching this defense, the team is looking at reversing that 5-2 record, or possibly worse.

But then … that’s the 49ers this year. The 2025 team is the anthesis of the 2024 team. Where 2024 was a slog, a hate-watch, particularly at 4am, as the team found ways to lose, the 2025 team is fun, a joyful watch, even at 4am, and the team finds ways to win.

It’s Houston up next. I don’t know who’s in the lineup. I don’t know the gameplan. I don’t know if I’d pick us to win. But I’ll be there.