49ers news and updates: Second-half surge in 2022 inevitable?

Fresh off their bye week, the 49ers are gearing up for what’ll hopefully be a much more dominant second half of the season from Weeks 10 through 18.

Pound for pound, the San Francisco 49ers have a roster perfectly capable of winning a Super Bowl. And considering the NFC West and the entire conference are both notably weak right now, the path for head coach Kyle Shanahan’s squad is certainly there to make it all the way to February football.

However, as painful as it is to admit, the Niners are widely inconsistent and have had a true problem with self-inflicted wounds.

On one hand, those gaffes can be cleaned up. On the other, though, good teams don’t hurt themselves with those kinds of mistakes.

If it was left up to the players, perhaps someone like linebacker Fred Warner would police the team and point out the need for San Francisco to find some desperation in the second half, doing far better than the apathetic 4-4 start over the first eight weeks of the season.

In fact, that was one bold prediction from The Athletic’s David Lombardi and Matt Barrows, the Niners would go undefeated in the NFC West this season after already sweeping the Los Angeles Rams while also knocking off the Seattle Seahawks back in Week 2.

But, what about a perfect 8-0 finish to the rest of the regular season?

It might be a tough bit of sledding to see that through, as San Francisco has some challenging games left on the table.

Yet the possibility of the 49ers somehow figuring out how to win, let’s say, seven of their last nine games to finish with an 11-6 record would probably be enough to not only win the NFC West but to claim a pretty high spot in the NFC playoff picture, too.

The Niners do have a ways to go before reaching that point, though, and the first step will be knocking off the 5-3-1 Los Angeles Chargers at Levi’s Stadium in Week 10.

Here are some need-to-know news and tidbits from around the interwebs.

49ers news from the FanSided network

Chargers vs. 49ers Prediction, Odds for NFL Week 10 (Brandon Staley Better Learn How to Stop the Run) — Josh Yourish, BetSided

"The Chargers defense is allowing 5.7 yards per carry, the worst in the NFL. Brandon Staley is supposed to be a defensive innovator, but he has had years to do it and can’t figure out how to stop the run. Atlanta ran for 202 yards last week.If Staley truly did change defense by playing two high safeties, then he might need to change it again to stop Shanahan and his new toys."

Updated NFC Playoff Picture, NFC Wild Card standings after Bucs beat Rams — Josh Hill, FanSided

"The loss by the Rams [to the Buccaneers] sinks them further down the NFC Playoff picture and further back in the NFC West race. Seattle managed to down the Arizona Cardinals in a tight battle that creates more distance between the Seahawks and the rest of the West and pretty much puts the Rams season on life support."

49ers news from around the NFL entering Week 10

SI’s Albert Breer says Tom Brady to 49ers in 2023 is possible — KNBR Staff

"“This would check a lot of boxes,” Breer concluded. “Being able to finish in San Francisco, great offensive coach in Kyle Shanahan, great talent around him in Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, [George] Kittle, Christian McCaffrey behind you. There are a lot of fun possibilities out there with Tom.”It’s all speculation obviously, but Breer is one of the premier NFL reporters, and if he’s floating the possibility, there is probably a kernel of something there."

49ers are an inconsistent mess, can they clean it up after bye week? — Mike Silver, San Francisco Chronicle

"On a great day, the 49ers would roll most opponents. However, championship teams are more accurately measured by their ability to flourish under adverse conditions, and slogging through half a season before turning it on and going on a run isn’t a birthright.If the Niners aren’t at their best, teams like the Chargers, Saints, Dolphins, Bucs and even the Commanders could come to Levi’s and prevail, rendering moot the fans’ current wave of enthusiasm."

Tim Kawakami says Jimmy Garoppolo is in play to be 49ers’ starter in 2023 — David Bonilla, 49ers Webzone

"Should the San Francisco 49ers consider bringing quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo back in 2023? The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami believes it has to at least be an option, especially if the team makes a deep playoff run this season with Garoppolo helming the offense.“Yes, Garoppolo has to be a live 49ers option for 2023,” Kawakami wrote in a recent mailbag. “I believe it’s definitely on the table. How could it not be?”"

Drake Jackson’s full circle moment in the NFL — Jordan Elliott, Niners Nation

"A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to speak with Jackson, and while we were talking, I asked him about the emotions of getting his first NFL sack on national TV and what it meant to him. …“That was a crazy sack, man, I’m not going to lie,” Jackson responded. “For that to be my first sack too, on Russell Wilson, man it’s crazy because I went to one of his camps when I was 10-12 years old. And one of his big things in his camp was “work hard, dream big”. I went to his camp and I took pictures with him, and to be able to double back years later and get my first sack on him was… work hard, dream big! You can’t really make that stuff up, it’s just a blessing to come full circle like that.”"

Should the 49ers have drafted Justin Fields over Trey Lance? — Grant Cohn, Sports Illustrated

"Unfortunately for the 49ers, they already wasted two years of [Trey Lance’s] career. Last season, he mostly sat on the bench. And this season, he mostly sits in a luxury suite. So will next season be Year 3 or Year 1 of his career?The 49ers made the right choice when they drafted Lance or Fields, they simply botched Lance’s development. We’ll see if they can fix their mess."