Week 8 hot takes: Is Seahawks game a must-win for 49ers?
The 49ers, Seahawks, Buccaneers, Bears, Kyler Murray and Bill Belichick go under the microscope in this week's edition of hot takes.
The NFL season is nearing its halfway mark, and we've at least got some idea who of who the major players will be come January.
Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are rolling along and added Antonio Brown to the mix, because anytime you can add an insane person who can wreck everything you've worked for, you have to do it. That's what my mom always said at least.
The Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans all look like playoff locks, as do the Buffalo Bills, despite the recent struggles of early-season darling Josh Allen.
Meanwhile, the NFC West is setting up to be a 17-week slugfest between four of the NFL's top 12 teams. The 49ers have responded from their early-season struggles to pick up two wins and vault back into contention for the division title. The Los Angeles Rams might be the division's most balanced team, but question marks remain around Jared Goff and how far he can carry them. Russell Wilson is phenomenal, but we found out Sunday that the Seahawks need him to be flawless to compensate for a defense that would make the 2016 Oregon Ducks look like the '85 Bears.
After seven weeks, there are narratives, questions and hot takes swirling around the league's Super Bowl contenders and we're here to debunk or speak to truth to what gets thrown out on the morning debate shows.
Verdict: Buy
The Bears had been playing with fire early in the season, sprinting out to a 5-1 lead with just a plus-12 point differential. They were the beneficiaries of a dropped D'Andre Swift touchdown pass in Week 1, the Falcons going full Falcon in Week 3 and Tom Brady forgetting how many downs there were in a football game in Week 5.
They smelled fraudulent but kept winning. Then came Monday night, when they stunk up SoFi Stadium, scoring only 10 points while racking up only 279 yards of total offense. The Bears' lone touchdown came on a fumble recovery by Eddie Jackson.
Nick Foles was his mediocre self, throwing two picks in the loss, and the Bears' offensive line, which has been a problem all season, struggled to get a push in the run game or keep the pressure off Foles.
For the fourth game in a row, the Bears failed to rush for more than 70 yards. In case you are new, that stinks. The Bears were 4-for-14 on third down (29 percent) and 1-for-4 on fourth down. That's also very bad.
Chicago is 5-2, but nature could quickly heal. Three of their next four games are against the Saints, Titans and Packers. Those are all likely losses.
They have two games against a Vikings team that might have quit and one against the Jaguars, who might be the worst team in football. (I don't recognize the Jets as a real team.) They face a Lions team they should have lost to in Week 1, Deshaun Watson and then finish with the Packers, who could have the division wrapped up by then.
That smells like 8-8 maybe 9-7. The Bears can't move the ball and only the Jags should be a surefire win. With the NFC West balling and the Saints/Bucs division loser likely getting a playoff spot, I just don't see room for a Bears team that can't score or move the ball in any effective manner.
Verdict: Sell
Murray entered the season as one of the dark horse picks for MVP. He opened the season with an impressive showing against the 49ers, but then tailed off as the offense stumbled in loss to the Lions and Panthers.
But Murray has come roaring back. After scoring three total touchdowns in a whooping of the Cowboys, the second-year quarterback had his first signature moment Sunday, throwing for 360 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for another one in an overtime win over the Seahawks.
On the season, Murray has 1,847 yards, 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions while also rushing for seven touchdowns.
Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes still lead the MVP discussion. But if Murray continues to play as he did Sunday and can keep the Cardinals in the hunt for the NFC West title, then he'll be squarely in the mix right alongside the best in the game.
Verdict: 50/50
This certainly isn't where Bill Belichick thought he would be: He and the Patriots were supposed to exit the Tom Brady era and hand the reigns to Jimmy Garoppolo. But Brady's extended prime forced owner Robert Kraft to ask Belichick to trade Garoppolo.
And so, Belichick entered 2020 with no quarterback after Brady elected to shed the Patriot Way and take his act to Tampa to prove he could win without the Sith Lord.
Through seven weeks, Belichick post-Brady has been a disaster. The Patriots have been ravaged by COVID opt-outs on defense, were hit with the virus in the middle of the season and quarterback Cam Newton has played poorly since returning from a bout with COVID.
Brady and the Bucs are 5-2 and the favorites in the NFC. Garoppolo, Belichick's preferred quarterback of the future, came to New England and pantsed the Patriots on Sunday, giving The Hoodie his worst home loss as Patriots head coach.
Brady winning and playing extremely well no doubt it a rub on Belichick. It turns out Belichick might not be able to win with just anyone. It looks like Brady, in fact, covered up for a lot of the issues the Patriots had. Like the number of high draft whiffs Belichick has had and the lack of offensive weapons he surrounded Brady with during the latter years.
The score is undoubted: Brady 1, Belichick 0.
As it pertains to Garoppolo, the beat down the 49ers delivered the Patriots was once again a creation of Kyle Shanahan who schemed to keep Garoppolo out of dicey situations.
Of Garoppolo's 20 completions Sunday, 10 came at or behind the line of scrimmage. Of the other 10, only one went more than 15 yards down the field.
There's little doubt Belichick would have rather turned the keys over to Garoppolo than to be stuck in quarterback purgatory, but Garoppolo's play has been far from noteworthy enough to warrant calling it a win over Belichick.
Verdict: Not so fast
Antonio Brown is a supremely talented wide receiver. There's no doubt about that. The Bucs being able to plug him into the slot role that Scotty Miller currently occupies will give Brady an embarrassment of riches. With Brown in the slot, teams should no longer be able to double team Mike Evans on the outside for fear of letting Brown run wild in the slot.
That can all be true, but the Bucs already are among the best teams in the NFL without Brown. To me, it seems like an unnecessary gamble to take.
We've seen Brown play only one game since Dec. 2018, and in that time period since he's gone completely off the reservation and forced three teams to part ways with him.
The Bucs' defense and Brady's play make them Super Bowl contenders, and probably the best in the NFC. But bringing Brown into the building adds a variable that could just as easily derail their season as put them over the hump come January.
I still think the Bucs are far and away the best NFC team. Brown's arrival doesn't make them that much better, but it does make them deeper and more combustible.
Verdict: Buying
The 49ers have survived more injuries than we can count. They were wobbly and ready to be knocked out, but neither the Rams nor Patriots could deliver the blow.
So, the 49ers sit at 4-3. They're only1.5 games back of the first-place Seahawks and gaining momentum and confidence.
A win Sunday would be paramount to their chances of repeating. It would bring them to within a half-game of the Seahawks with half a season left to track down a team with an atrocious defense (Seahawks), a team that hasn't been there before (the Cardinals) and a team they already dominated (the Rams).
Kyle Shanahan has schemed the 49ers to two straight wins. Now, he faces a defense that allowed 479 yards per game and was just carved up by Kyler Murray. You know he's licking his lips.
The 49ers can exploit the Seahawks' secondary, even with Deebo Samuel out. Expect George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk to have big games. But the lack of a lead running back could be an issue, even against a shaky Seahawks' run defense.
Then, there's Russell Wilson. Coming off a three-interception game, the third of which cost his team a chance to win, Wilson will undoubtedly be looking for a strong bounce-back performance against his rival.
A loss Sunday by the 49ers would drop them to 4-4 and 2.5 games behind the Seahawks, who have a soft December schedule that includes the New York Jets, New York Giants and the team that can't decide on a name from Washington.
The 49ers will face the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints, Rams and Buffalo Bills immediately after the Seahawks. They do finish the season against the Cardinals and Seahawks which gives them a direct opportunity to make up ground, but being 2.5 games back entering November with a number of tough games waiting is not where the 49ers want to be.
