The 49ers  reach the bye week at 5-1 having played their best football since 1998.  It’s a good time to be a 49er fan, in a 2 part series I’ll take a look at what got the 49ers to 5-1 and what to expect the rest of the 2011 season with some outlandish predictions sprinkled in. 

The defense has emerged as one of the elite units in the NFL and nobody has run on this team in a long time dating back to last season.  Patrick Willis and Navarro Bowman form the best inside linebacker duo in the NFL.  No other team has 2 guys that can run all game long and stop the run like the 49ers do hats off to Trent Baalke  once again for his confidence in Bowman allowing veteran captain Takeo Spikes  to walk in free agency in favor of Bowman. 

While the star linebackers get a lot of the credit for the 2nd leading run defense in the league the defensive line deserves a big share of the credit.  Justin Smith has been remarkable this year, I swear he looks better and better every year, a relenting DE that has set himself apart as the best 3-4 DE in the NFL.  Isaac Sopoaga and Ray McDonald have done fantastic jobs in their new roles as well Sopoaga being shifted back to nose tackle and McDonald being inserted into the starting lineup after being a backup his entire career has thrived.  Sopoaga replaced veteran Abrayo Franklin and has reinforced the teams decision to keep him over Franklin by giving the line more push up the middle taking up more of the guards attention and allowing the edge rushers more room to operate.   McDonald is an upgrade at DE over Sopoaga in defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s scheme because he’s a better pass rusher, in Fangio’s defense compared to Greg Manusky is that the DEs are expected to get pressure as well.  McDonald has excelled in the run game also which the big question mark was coming into the season.
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49ers 25-Lions 19 FINAL

Wow!  I mean wow what a game by the San Francisco 49ers.  Vegas and everybody else had the 49ers losing this game (but not us!) , you heard it all the crowd will be too much, teams never win 3 straight road games, Megatron will be too much for the 49ers (props to our own Jared Quan  for squashing that one).  The first half was an ugly slugfest that was very frustrating to watch.  In the end Alex Smith came up big for the 49ers with a game winning touchdown pass to Delaine Walker followed by 1 last stand by the defense to win the game. 

The 49ers won the battle up front giving up just 2 sacks to the Lions  famous defensive line that many thought would man handle the 49ers offensive line.  The 49ers defensive front 7 needs to finally get the respect they deserve as a unit, possibly the best in the NFL right now, yes I said the best in the NFL.  The group put together 5 sacks including another 2 from rookie sensation Aldon Smith, 1 for a pivotal safety in the first half.  Patrick Willis and Navarro Bowman both turned in excellent games once again.  Willis did a nice job breaking up at least 3 passes and laying a couple big shots on Lions Quarterback Matthew Stafford. 
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Aside from the team’s surprisingly strong 4-1 record the 49ers have had a few pleasant surprises this season that have been very interesting to watch develop. First is the play of Alex Smith, has anyone beat the odd’s more than this guy in 2011? Alex’s play under pressure and improved decision making has made Jim Harbaugh look like a genius for bringing him back.

Next is the play of Navarro Bowman, I think even Trent Baalke the guy who pulled the trigger on Bowman in the draft and let Takeo Spikes walk away in favor of him still couldn’t think Bowman would be THIS good THIS fast. Please do not get me wrong here, I think Patrick Willis is the best Inside Linebacker in the NFL right now and will be for a long time. With that said Navarro Bowman would make a lot of teams happy as their version of Willis or other feature ILBs like Ray Lewis, Brian Urlacher you get the picture. The point is the guy is a STUD. The one element of his game he may actually have on Willis is his pass rush ability, combined with Patrick this could be the best ILB combo in the NFL today.

How about the play of Trent Baalke’s 2011 draft class? While Colin Kaepernick’s career has consisted of some awkward handoff’s and 3 passes thus far the other 49er rookies have shined. First round pick Aldon Smith currently leads the team with 3.5 sacks after breaking out vs. the Eagles with 1.5 sacks only to follow that up with a fantastic 2 sack performance the next week. Fourth Round Pick Kendall Hunter led the NFL in rushing during the preseason and has given the 49ers something they desperately needed the last few seasons, a change up RB to pair with star Frank Gore. Hunter has shown big play ability as a rusher and a receiver and has already came up big in week 3 scoring the go-ahead TD with Gore on the sidelines. Then there’s Chris Culliver, the Cornerback turned Safety in college turned CB in the NFL with the 49ers when they made him their 3rd round pick. Culliver has proved at least in the short term he has what it takes to play CB in the pros after playing significant time in week 4 and again in week 5 Culliver has come up big. Several other rookies including Bruce Miller who is making a nice transition to Fullback after playing defense in college along with Colin Jones, Demarcus Dobbs, Ian Williams, Mike Person, Daniel Kilgore and Scott Tolzien have found their way onto the 49ers roster this season.
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