Revisiting 2019 record prediction for 49ers after Week 3

Weeks 1-4

April projection: 3-0

I’m really just here to tell you this 3-0 start comes as no great surprise, at least to me.

With a transition year taking place in Tampa, a new head coach and an at-best-mediocre roster in Cincinnati, combined with the most uncertainty swirling around the Steelers in years, it wasn’t too difficult to see the 49ers were better than all three of these teams.

These were not easy wins — save for the smashing of the Bengals in Week 2 — but they told us a lot about what this 49ers team could be for the rest of the season. The wins in Weeks 1 and 3 were the type that previous iterations of this team would have lost.

That they pulled out the victories, even in ugly fashion, is telling.

To be sure, the start of the season has been marred by an unfortunate run of injuries, such as running back Tevin Coleman‘s ankle sprain in Tampa, left tackle Joe Staley‘s broken leg in Cincinnati and now cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon‘s foot sprain in the home opener.

Not to mention players like wide receivers Trent Taylor, who was recently put on short-term IR from his foot surgery, and Jalen Hurd and his back, who have yet to see the field.

The point here is the team has overcome a lot to find itself at 3-0 so far this season, and the hope would be, that as they begin to get healthier and start to see players returning, they’ll only get better.