The San Francisco 49ers suffered a deflating 26-21 defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars in their Week 4 matchup at Levi's Stadium.
Most things went wrong for the Niners in that game, but through all that, they were still in the game until the bitter end.
That said, they'll need to address a few areas ahead of Week 5.
Since the 49ers play in Week 5 against the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football, they'll have a short week to address some of those areas. And there are three main ones the Niners need to address ahead of TNF if they hope to defeat the LA.
Let's take a look at them.
49ers must win the turnover battle
The 49ers lost the turnover battle to the Jaguars badly, having had four giveaways and zero takeaways.
While that was a bad outing, it wasn't just a one-off. The Niners currently are the second-worst team in the league when it comes to turnover differential at minus-five. Only the Cleveland Browns rank worse in that department, and even more shocking, San Francisco has yet to record an interception this season, one of only three such teams not to do so through four weeks.
If the 49ers want to have a victory on Thursday, they'll need to win the turnover battle against Los Angeles.
Linebacker Fred Warner will need to ensure any passes that sail his way are secured, so the Niners can get their first INT of the season.
49ers must figure how to run the ball efficiently
If I told you the 49ers still do not have a rushing touchdown in the 2025 season, you'd probably think I was joking. It's a fact, though.
While the Niners have one of the most dynamic running backs in the league with Christian McCaffrey, he's been supporting the team with his receiving skills more than his yards on the ground.
McCaffrey is seventh in the league right now in receiving yards, with 305 yards. He is, however, 20th in the league in rushing with 225 yards in that category.
The 49ers are also only averaging 88 yards rushing per game, fifth worst in the league.
In order to defeat the Rams, the Niners will have to get back to running the ball and doing so efficiently.
49ers can't lose special teams battle
San Francisco was wholly awful on special teams in 2024. Through the first three games of the 2025 season, the 49ers haven't exactly shown much improvement despite a new coordinator, new kicker, new long-snapper and a new punter.
In the game against the Jags, the 49ers gave up an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown late in the third quarter, and that might've been their undoing. One can only wonder what the end result might have looked like if that ugly score hadn't been the case.
While field goals and extra points haven't been much of an issue in the wake of Jake Moody's post-Week 1 departure, against the Rams, the Niners will want to be solid in kickoff and punt coverage. They'll need to ensure they don't give up any big gains on returns in a game that could depend a lot on field position.
Return specialist Skyy Moore will need to make an impact in the game, too, to set the 49ers up with good field position when the two teams square off on Thursday night at 8:15 p.m. ET from SoFI Stadium.