Top 5 takeaways from 49ers Week 13 loss vs. Ravens

No. 3: Loss aside, 49ers prove once again they’re legitimate

Nobody like the concept of an honorable loss. It’s essentially a way to try to spin a defeat in the most optimistic way possible.

But in this defeat, the 49ers earned something better than honor, that being respect.

The Niners did a lot to earn respect in their crushing defeat of the Packers in Week 12, but there was an idea the game was a bit of a fluke and they still might be a bit below the true elite of the NFL.

Their tight defeat in Baltimore to the NFL’s hottest team right now ironically may have done more to gain respect and legitimacy than the win against the Packers did.

In the previous five weeks before the game, the Ravens played four teams either well in the playoff hunt or battling for a Wild Card spot in the Seahawks, New England Patriots, Houston Texans and Los Angeles Rams.

Against these four teams, the Ravens put up scores of 30, 37, 41 and 45, respectively. The 49ers held Baltimore to a mere 20, albeit with some assistance from the weather.

The Patriots are a good comparison, defensively, as the other big elite defense the Ravens had played. The Niners came out looking much better than the Patriots’ vaunted defense did.

Offensively, while similarly hindered, San Francisco did something those other four teams could not and made a game of it. If it wasn’t for the Ravens’ Justin Tucker, the top kicker in the NFL, the game would have gone into overtime.

There are no more doubts, this is a legitimate football team in San Francisco.