Kyle Shanahan Highlights San Francisco 49ers SECRET Advantage

Kyle Shanahan Highlights San Francisco 49ers SECRET Advantage

The San Francisco 49ers have been a man down for most of the games this year, but they have a big secret advantage. And let’s take a look at the NFC getting ready for the Carolina Panthers. A big one with playoff implications in week 12 on today’s Locked On 49ers. You are Locked On 49ers, your daily San Francisco 49ers podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Welcome to Lockdown 49ers. Brian Peacock and Eric Crocker with you as always at BD Peacock at Coach Crocky. Thanks everybody for making us your first listen on the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team everyday. Love our everyday. Thanks for hanging with us and thanks for making us now the number one sports podcast network. Make sure you’re all subscribed up on YouTube and everywhere you listen to your podcasts. And today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel, America’s number one sports book. And right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the FanDuel app. And now, let’s bring on today’s guest, Nicholas Winkler. Come on down. Can’t believe it. Wink. What’s happening? It was a big blowout victory for the San Francisco 49ers in week 11 against the Arizona Cardinals. Uh I’m sure you’re feeling good as the voice of the fan. If those of you don’t know, uh when Nick’s on the show, he is the voice of the fan. So, he speaks for everyone, 100% of the 49ers fans out there. So, if you don’t like it, hit him up at Bay Areaink. Uh, and um, my former radio colleague, if you don’t know who Nick Winkler is, and we used to do a podcast way back in the day before I even started doing locked on 49ers, which was all the way back in 2017. I got hired here just before Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch got hired to run the San Francisco 49ers. So, I predate the Shanahan Lynch era. By the way, I came in on the heels of the Chip Kelly area era. Uh, turns out guys, Chip Kelly still not a good NFL coach as witnessed by his work with that fantastic Raiders offense. Oh. Oh. Oh. Real quick, can I talk about how I maybe I’m the idiot, but I took the carries for uh the young running back. Ashton Jensen, you’re behind. I took his carries. No, they had chances, but literally anybody else that took the the his carries, they probably were seeing the same thing as I was. Let’s start with Gino Smith. Gino Smith had 19 passing attempts. Genty two carries in the first half and about 15 play actions. I I talk about being sick and wanting to fire Chip Kelly and I’m not even a Raider fan. Wink, uh, as a 49ers, look, coaching is the theme for this first segment here because Kyle Shanahan spoke about something that we haven’t really talked about here. And, uh, Wink, you know, as a fan, you’ve been to multiple games this year, and seeing how many fans were at the Arizona Cart. It’s all red. The Cardinals wear red, too. I don’t, but uh, 100% red in the stands. Uh, they weren’t all 49ers fans, but there was a lot of 49ers fans. And Kyle Shanahan talked about it after the game and I think sort of a a late game ball should go out to the 49ers faithful. All the fans that show up to all the away games. It’s the reason that I love doing this show and I love covering the 49ers because it’s such a huge fan base. It’s a global fan base, not only a national fan base and there’s 49ers fans everywhere and uh it’s an it’s an away field advantage that the 49ers have cultivated here. And Kyle Shanahan talked about it. He said it’s so nice to be able to go have a road game and not have to go on a silent count. And we’ve seen times when the home team had to go to a silent count because there’s so many 49ers fans in the stands in Arizona, in LA, in so many away games. And so delayed game ball uh and uh and probably longdeserved game ball to the 49ers fans. So wink, I know as a as the voice of the fan here on locked on 49ers, you would agree to that. Yeah, 100%. Man, I mean, actually, I watched this game. Uh, my buddy Ruben was having a watch party at Senior Cisig there in Thrive City over the weekend, and they actually had the game on the big screen right outside Chase Center. And so, there’s quite a few people out there watching and uh and following along. So, it was really cool to interact with a bunch of different people and chatting with them and and we were saying the same thing about the stands. I one woman didn’t really know what she was talking about. She’s like, “Look, everyone’s wearing red. They’re all Niner fans.” It’s like they’re the they’re the Cardinals also. But every time they cut to like a scene of the crowd, even if it was the Cardinals doing something good, you saw one Cardinals fan and then you look behind them and it was just a bunch of Niner fans back there. So, they travel well. We always do. You know, Faithful, that’s that’s why we love you guys so much. That’s why, you know, we keep you in the heart because, hey, bang, bang, Faithful. I I just I love it. You guys make me so proud. It feels like the more we hear about how well the 49ers travel is almost like an incentive for fans to continue to travel or even travel more to games. I mean, I went to the Tampa Bay game and obviously that didn’t work out the way the 49ers wanted to, but I thought there were a ton of fans all the way in Florida uh for the, you know, chair for the 49ers. So, the more you kind of get this uh let’s say I think it’s the Buffalo Bills, aren’t they the ones who obviously they do all the crazy stuff jumping on the tables, but I think they donate money, isn’t it? Mafia. Yeah, Bill’s Mafia. Yeah. But it’s like the more people talk about, oh man, like they’re so amazing. They donate money. I think it makes other fans of that fan base want to donate money as well. They do it to charities. They do it to people in need. I mean, it’s awesome thing that they do. I feel like once you start getting this tag of uh, you know, I think it was I want to say it was the rookie Jackson Dart talking about the 49er fans and how weird that that there were so many 49er fans fans. I I think the 49er fan base is really embracing that. Absolutely. Uh, it’s phenomenal stuff there and um that’s a good idea about donating, you know, as the voice of the fan. Maybe Nick Winkler should donate a lot of money. Um uh to every 40 matters. Let’s do it. Hey, I’ll match whatever anybody out there wants to do as long as it $10 is the cap. Yeah. And uh drop drop in the drop in the comments uh on YouTube if you know of a good uh 49ers. There’s a lot of good 49ers charities out there. If you have any favorites and uh let the uh let the fans know. We’ll let the fans know about it as well. I think there’s a there’s a 49er charity called Stag High School Football or something like that. That That’s right. There is that one. It’s a It’s a nonprofit and uh yeah, help out a help out a young coach. Uh man, eight straight. That’s a that’s an accomplishment in your first year as head coach, Croc. Eight straight at stag high in Stockton, California. That’s fantastic stuff. I want to highlight how good of a job Kyle Shanahan’s doing coaching the San Francisco 49ers because the 49ers have had so many injuries this year and there’s new players filling in all the time. We talked about it this week. You got Bthoon, you got another kicker coming in. and it’ll be the third kicker this year for the 49ers uh with the injury to Eddie Panero. And the fact that the 49ers when you see a team like the Arizona Cardinals like they can barely even get lined up all of a sudden they have a bunch of injuries, right? And it really makes you appreciate how good of a job Kyle Shanahan’s done. Not even to be competitive and and win a lot of football games, but to not go out there and have a game where guys don’t even know where to go and you have 17 penalties. I mean, that just points to coaching right there. So just keeping the team on track and being able to to to go out there and line up in some ways shows how good of a football coach Kyle Shanny has is compared to some of the uh the contemporaries out there. Yeah, I think he’s got to be a front runner for for coach of the year, right? I mean, you’re talking about a a team that has lost star after star and then just starter after starter, right? I mean, Bthun not a bigname star, but he’s playing extremely well. he goes out, you know, Curtis Robinson jumps right in and and looks, you know, like they didn’t really miss too too much of a beat there. So, it’s really it says a lot about these guys, especially about Kyle and what he’s done as the 49ers coach. And man, guys, you mentioned the injuries. Like our our buddy Lou, who’s in the Oblong Lee, he sent out a text just saying like, “Guys, are we numb yet to the Monday morning 49ers injury report?” because it just feels like every single week you look at it and you’re like, “All right, who’s on there? All right, how long are they out for?” Because it’s going to be filled with somebody who’s important because it it has been week, man. It’s brutal. It’s brutal. I’m pretty numb to it. Absolutely. It’s just like, okay. And I think the 49ers are are such in this it’s been multiple years now. They’re in a next man up mentality that’s just I think it’s almost like business as usual. It’s like, okay, player went down, next man. That’s that’s what we do. it’s you have no choice in the matter. So, I think 49ers fans, I think 49ers players. I just think that’s the mentality now and you’re ready for it and uh and you go to work. So, um I want to talk about the 49ers in the in the NFC where the Panthers are, where the 49ers are, and we got some new percentages for what the likelihood of being a playoff team for the 49ers and being the winner of the West for the 49ers and what that Ram Seahawks game did to skew those percentages. and of course the weekly Wink Watch as well. Next, today’s show is brought to you by our friends over there at Pelaton. Look folks, it’s time to break through the busiest time of the year with a brand new Pelaton cross trainining tread plus that’s powered by Pelaton IQ. It’s Pelaton’s most elevated technology and equipment yet that gives you real-time guidance and it gives you endless ways to move. Whether you want to work out by yourself or if you want to work out with your favorite instructor like my personal favorite, Alex Tousant, he always gets me fired up to tackle the day. And the thing I like about Pelaton, it helps me achieve more in less times. 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Uh I did in my first ever appearance playing so slow pitch softball in my life. I was wearing jeans and dark Doc Martens by the way because I was just in the stands watching my buddy play. They needed an extra guy. So I went out there. I went yard in my jeans. I can imagine what I could do in my Der jeans. I could absolutely play in them because they have the classic jeans wear style with the combination and comfort of performance you get from athletic wear. And by the way, not only are the pants phenomenal at Der Croc, they got fantastic shirts as well. I love the shirts, right? And it’s hard to find, especially for me at this age. I’m a little bit more skinny fat. So, you don’t want a shirt that’s too tight that’s kind of revealing some of your soft areas, but you don’t want one that’s too loose to where now it’s like a it’s not really a good fit. DER has the perfect cut that’s for an athletic fit guy or, you know, whatever built you are. And it has a nice it has like that cut at the bottom. So, it’s not just a straight, you know, around your waist bottom. It’s like has that nice cut to it. Um, that’s literally one of my favorite shirts that they sent to us. I went out and ordered more. So, I have white and I have black as well. And you can try it on for yourself at the new store in Hayes Valley, 567 Haze Street. Pick up a pair or they’re awesome. An amazing holiday gift as well. And mention our promo code in store lockedonsf to get 15% off your first order. Or go check them out online, shopd.com/locktonsf for 15% off. That’s shopdoer.comlockedsf. All right, guys. Um, real quick note on the injuries here before we get to the wink watch and and take a peek at the NFC. Um, one of our listeners, Croc, do you have the the tweet up? One of our listeners asked us was talking about the IUK thing and and he caught something from Kyle Shanahan’s comments about Brandon Iayuk and when he might be back because you know it’s still a big gray area and it sounded like the 49ers might have expected that he would be back yet but uh according to Kyle Shanahan and the wording he used maybe it is just completely up to Brandon Iayuk right now. Yeah. So Joseph Donna shout out to Joseph John Donna sent the uh tweet out and I think I read it super early. Yeah. 3 3:08 a.m. So maybe if he I don’t know if he’s in California super early. It must have been really on his mind. And he said just listen to the pod. And uh yesterday Kyle said something he hasn’t said prior. Iayuk will practice when he’s and he emphasized he’s fully comfortable. That’s implying is Aayuk making the decision that I I I read that. I said that’s actually it kind of adds up with them thinking, “Yeah, maybe next week he’ll be ready to go and then the practice window open and nope. And maybe next week.” Nope. And John Lynch’s comments as well on K&BR last week. It was like, “Our intention isn’t to red shirt him this year. Our intention is to have him back, but he was still very vague about when he will be back.” And so maybe it is just when he feels right. and and hopefully that’s not an indication that uh that there’s something very wrong with the knee that that it’s been aggravated or something like that. Wink, what’s the worry meter for you on this Brandon Iuk situation? Will he ever play for the 49ers again this season? I’m not totally sure. I mean, athletes got to be able to trust it, right? You you talk about a knee injury that was very serious. You know, it caused him to miss all this time and if he comes back, he’s got to be able to trust that if he cuts on it, it’s going to support him. It’s not just going to give out. And if psychologically he doesn’t feel that it is, even if it structurally is, if he doesn’t believe it in his mind and in his heart, he’s not going to be ready to play football. So, you can fully understand saying something like this because the Kyle’s probably like, “Look, practice tomorrow if he told us he could practice tomorrow, but he’s not out here.” So, you kind of got to trust an athlete in something like that. And when he went out late last year, I was like, “Wow, we might not even have it coming year.” I I didn’t draft him in any fantasy league for that very reason where I’m like even when he does come back, it might take a couple of weeks before he gets back up to speed. And uh I I’m worried that we’ll see Brandon IU at all this season. And it was a good point as well in the tweet about Dearon Overshown for the Cowboys who made his return on Monday Night Football after he had last year December 10th I think it was. He had a torn ACL, MCL, and PCL injury. So, you know, the the trifecta of knee ligaments, but he’s back already. But he did have a really bulky knee brace on. And so, you know, if you’re a wide receiver, and it’s uh a little bit more predicated on speed and athleticism there, can you even run routes properly if you have some big bulky knee brace on? And so, it’s probably a different proposition for, you know, a linebacker, a front seven player, or an offensive lineman versus a wide receiver or a corner coming back and and feeling comfortable on that knee. And the Niners kind of went through this to a lesser degree with Ricky Pearol this season, right? Because Ricky Pearol was the one that kind of broke the news on his own knee because it sounded like ah it’s you know, oh the it’s it’s not a big deal. He’ll be back maybe it’s week to week or day to day or whatever with a PCL injury and he’s like my it feels loose in my knee. This is not good. And all of a sudden turns out yeah he was out for five six weeks or whatever it was. So, um, you got to trust it at at wide receiver. And so, that’s probably where we’re at. And, uh, when Brandon Aayuk’s ready, sounds like he’ll be the one to make the call when he’s going to come back. And you hope it’s not more than just him, uh, you know, him recovering and and rehabing that knee. Wink. If we hear any frustration in, you know, whether it was Kyle Shanahan, John Lynch, Yeah. I feel like there there’s there’s always this little something when it comes to Brandon Au. Yeah. And I’ve been a big defender of him, especially when he was trying to get, you know, his large contract. I don’t want to say he’s being a diva. You got you got to look out for your best interest, but there’s always just a little something there that kind of gets under the skin of Kyle Shann Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch. You’re not wrong. Definitely. Definitely. There there is some weirdness there. Um, wink. Let’s talk special teams. What’s in the wink watch? because obviously a game started off with a bang with the Sky Moore 98 yard return. Couldn’t quite house it. Um but uh something you haven’t seen a lot from the 49ers and then obviously the uh the Eddie Panero hamstring injury is a big one as well. Yeah, I mean last week on the show I said, “Hey, let’s get a good kick return. Hey, maybe even a turnover or something.” You know, these things we haven’t done most of the season. So right out of the gate when Skyore breaks that it’s just like what’s happening? There’s got to be a flag, right? You know, as a fan, you’re can’t do that. You’re used to that, right? Like, when was the last touchdown? Was it Ted Gin? Like, was it that long ago that the 49ers had a kick return for a touchdown? Because I honestly don’t know because it’s been long, but we went over it. I think it might have been Ted Gin because it’s been a long time. Doesn’t surprise me. It’s been a really, really long time. So, Pinero obviously had some trouble there with the Pats. You know, it’s kind of been his thing uh on the season. never has the field goal. So, I was terrified when he got that kick blocked and then he picked it up and he started running around with it. I’m around a bunch of people and I’m yelling, “Eddie, get down. Eddie, I’m just yelling because the last thing I wanted to get hurt and here we are. Eddie Pierro hurt more kickers, right? I mean, this is it’s been rough for the 49ers in every of staying healthy.” Pierro now kind of just kind of again, you feel numb to these kinds of things, right? Because they they keep happening over and over and over, but he’s kind of the last guy you expected to get hurt for the 49ers. So, it’s it’s a big bummer. Brock, was it Richie James or DJ Reed? Maybe that was the last. One of those might have been a punt return, not a kickoff return. Yeah, I’m trying to look it up right now. It’s definitely been a while since their last kickoff return. I think I just saw something that said 2018. That’s a long time. That might have been the DJ Reed then. It could have been either. It could have been Reed or or Richie James. It was way before that, right? Richie James had Seahawks. It It was the Seahawks game two uh December 16th, 2018. I’m trying to figure out who it was though. Okay. Needless to say, it just tells me who it just tells me when, but it doesn’t tell me. Okay. Uh, who it was? Let us know in the uh in the chat if you remember there was it was so long ago that uh I mean that was 28 that was pre-COVID. So, and that that was like I was having kid at that time. So, I was like I don’t same. Yeah. I barely remember five minutes ago at this point. So, I can’t remember who it was. So, yeah. Let us know uh on on Twitter or in the YouTube comments. All right, guys. Let’s take a look at playoff chances and the NFC playoff picture of which Oh, sorry. Uh, I know I’m interrupting. Richie James. It was Richie James. It was a kickoff and not a punt. Okay. Kickoff. Yeah, Richie James. My guy Richie James. Uh, NFC playoff picture, including the 49ers and Panthers that were going at it on Monday Night Football this week. Next, this episode of Lockdown on 49ers brought to you by FanDuel, America’s number one sports book. Of course, you can bet on NFL games weekly lines. They’re all up at FanDuel all the way through week 18. You can find NFL draft props if you’re into that. Uh, you can find tons of seasonl long props, player props every single week, live in-game betting. But the NBA is back as well, and there’s no better place to get in on that action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. And even if you miss the start of a game, you want to ride that hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. Keeps every game exciting, especially when your team is the one that’s making that late push. So, right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. All you got to do is download the app and head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, guys. Let’s take a look at the NFC. And somehow the Carolina Panthers, who uh I did not expect to be in this situation, are now 6 and5 and they are right there behind the San Francisco 49ers in a position to uh uh potentially win themselves a playoff birth. So this Monday nighter is really big. This is one of the biggest games on the schedule for the 49ers. It’s this and the Bears game that have the biggest impact on whether or not the 49ers are going to be a playoff team this year. and uh Croc Wink. Either one of you guys, do you have any quick notes on the Carolina Panthers? What you’ve seen from them? Bryce Young coming off the best game of his career throwing touchdown passes, 400 yards passing. Uh I had not seen him play like that. And they’re a team that’s been able to run the ball, whether it’s Rico Dattle or whoever else in that backfield. It’s it’s a really interesting football team right now. Uh, I don’t want to believe that they’re good, but they’re proven that they are at least a competitive football team right now. The 49ers have to take them seriously. Well, I think that the the biggest thing that you just said there was that they’re a competitive football team. And anytime you have a team that’s just figuring out how to stay in games, you can get one or two things go your way that all of a sudden they have the confidence that they can win this football game. So, yeah. Now, I look at the Carolina Panthers, obviously heading into the season, that’s a team where, you know, you kind of mark a W on on the uh the schedule for the 49ers. But now, Bryce Young, a guy who got benched at one point his rookie year and looked like he was down and out. He’s been getting kind of progressively better. And I think T McMillan, he’s been a big part of that. You talked about Rico Dattle like and he’s not the best running back but he’s been able to be somewhat productive. That makes them kind of a scary team especially for a 49ers team who although the 49ers kicked the Cardinals butt, Jacobe Brassette looked like the second coming of Steve Young the way he was completing passes uh with with that efficiency. Bryce Young is that is is the 49ers defense the recipe to kind of put him over the top with the confidence that he has. Can they go out there and kind of carve up the 49ers and have a big game? That that that can make things a little interesting. And Wink, when you look at the 49ers in that game against the Oh, sorry. Were you muted there, Wink? I wasn’t looking at you. Yeah, you’re good. I was just going to mention the fact that you’re talking about a Panthers team that went on the road into Lambo and beat the Packers. I mean, this isn’t a team that, you know, they most of their wins, yeah, are against the Jets and the Cowboys and the Dolphins and teams like that and the Falcons twice. The Falcons sweeping the Falcons doesn’t look as impressive as you thought it might to start the year either. Exactly. They also lost to the Cardinals earlier in the season. So, this is a team that you just kind of don’t know what team’s going to show up. They lost to the Bills 40 to9 or something. I mean, this is a team that I’m scared to play them. They’re a wild card. They’re they’re a team that’s like you might get that really great defense that showed up and shut down the Packers or you might get a team that, you know, gave up 40 to the Bills. I I’m really looking forward to this game, but at the same time, I’m a little bit nervous. This is it’s a better Panthers team than we thought coming into the season for sure. Right now, with seven wins, the 49ers are actually in a great spot. The depending on where you look, they’re 85 to 90% chance to make the playoffs. But what’s interesting is that they have such a high chance of making the playoffs yet such a low chance of winning the division after the Rams beat the Seahawks on Sunday. This the Rams according to NextGen stats have a 74% chance of winning the West. The Seahawks all the way down to 17% after losing to the Rams. And the 49ers, even though they’ve beaten the Seahawks and then split with the Rams, the 49ers are only one game behind the Rams, but have only an 8% chance, according to NextGen stats, to win the West with the with the Rams 74. So that’s kind of wild that the 49ers have such a little chance, according to the odds of winning the division, but have still a 90% chance of making the playoffs. And essentially, the the Panthers are kind of part of this. You know, the 49ers are a better team, I think, even as injured as they are, than the Panthers. So, you got to handle your business and you’re at home. You got to beat the Carolina Panthers. You got to win the winnable games. Gets you to 10 wins and you’re very likely going to be a playoff team if you’re the 49ers. And it’d be real nice for the 49ers to get three wins in a row here. Panthers, Browns, Titans, before you have the tough stretch at the end of the year, the last three games. that might start to get pretty dicey if you need to win one or two of those last three games against the Indianapolis Colts. Chicago Bears is a really big one and then ending the season against the Seattle Seahawks. And so, um, in fact, if you look at the ESPN odds, the 49ers have a better chance than the Seahawks to actually make the playoffs, 90 to 87%, which is interesting. So, um, and the Niners have tiebreers because of the West, I think, is why that is. So NFC games, division games, super important for the 49ers the rest of the way. But man, if they handle their business against the Panthers, the Bears, they’re going to be a playoff football team. So big game. Yeah, it’s a huge game. And I think as a 49er fan, you’re sitting there and you’re feeling confident because Brock Pie’s back. And if there was any rust or there was any concern about the toe or anything like that, the game on Sunday kind of showed us, all right, Brock’s fine, he’s back. You mentioned it, Croc, earlier. It just ran smoother. And it did. It looked better. It just looked like like the field was bigger for the 49ers offense with Brock Birdie under center. Like he could stretch the field a lot more with his arm than M. Jones was doing at when he was under center. It just it looked like a Kyle Shanahan offense run by Brock Perie, which over the past three years we’ve grown to love. Take a look at the rest of the NFC here and you know clearly the Eagles are in a great spot. Rams are in a great spot. Talked about the Niners and the Seahawks. Um, the other teams with the best odds to make the playoffs and the and the better records in the NFC, you’ve got the Bears and the Lions and the Packers that are all really tightly packed and the Bears are actually leading the North right now. Uh, and then you got the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who are just going to kind of roll in very likely, although they’re only a game ahead of where the Carolina Panthers are right now. So, it’s not impossible for the Panthers to actually leapfrog the Bucks and and being the 49ers would be a huge part of that uh for them. But then after that is a very interesting team. those no good rotten Dallas Cowboys who starting to look a little bit like a different team, a little better defense. We talked about they got Dearvian Overshon back, one of their better defensive players from last year. Their rookie corner Savone Rell uh is back on the field for them as well. And then obviously the big trade for Quinnon Williams who immediately comes in and gets a sack and a half in his first game for the for the Cowboys on Monday Night Football. Croc, I know you’ve got a Cowboy fan in the family. What are the thoughts of the Dallas Cowboys? Should the 49ers be looking in their rear view? Dallas is one of those teams that uh might be making a push for one of those wild card spots. Yeah, Dallas Cowboys are very weird team. It’s one of those teams where you you see that they have all these step players, but on any given day, it could just fall apart for them, right? You talk about the Carolina Panthers, the way they beat the Dallas Cowboys, Rico D having like 180 rushing yards on them. So, the Cowboys said, “You know what? We’re going to go out and we’re going to fix this. We’re going to go get Quinnon Williams. And I think early on now, maybe it was just the the Raiders kind of. You don’t get to play the Raiders, unfortunately. The Raiders being the Raiders that kind of skewed our our our vision on what we were actually watching there, but they looked damn good. Raiders looked kind of like they didn’t really care to be out there. Terrible tackling on on George Pickkins all night long. Guys running free wide open. So maybe you can’t count that game, but I am curious to see what the Cowboys look like in the next game because that might tell us a little bit more if it’s if it’s real or if it’s fake. But when you have Dak Prescott, I I think he’s a terrific quarterback and you have those weapons. They always you kind of always have one eye on them and see what they’re going to be looking like towards the end of the season. It it was more fun when the Cowboys were just awful and had the well the second worst defense in the league because that you can’t have the worst defense in the league when the Cincinnati Bengals right now have a historically bad defense that’s the worst defense that’s been fielded in the NFL since any of us have been alive. Like it is every week their defense is so bad they have to go further back. They’re like, “Well, it’s now it’s the worst defense since 1978. Now it’s the worst defense since 1950.” That’s what the Cincinnati Bengals are doing. And it was the Dallas Cowboys that was the the 31st best defense in the league. But uh they’re climbing. they they looked a lot more competitive and obviously Dak can can put some points on the board with with some of their weapons there. Wink, do you have a specific team that worries you the most out of the NFC? Yeah, it’s probably the Eagles, right? I mean, you’re talking about a team that has looked pretty bad on offense uh and is still sitting at 8 and2. You’re talking about a team that is the defending Super Bowl champions. Uh they keep finding a way to win. That defense is very legit. Uh so for me, they’re probably my biggest concern. And then I hate to say it, but it’s probably the Rams. I mean, the Rams have looked really, really good. Their two losses could easily have been wins and they could be an undefeated football team right now. So, those two, I think, are the tops and probably in the NFL, probably just of everybody, period. I think they’re sitting what one and two overall. The team that scares me, it has to be the Seahawks. I mean, for you to turn the ball over at that rate, five, four times. Was it five? Four picks. Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. you know, uh, when you see that and they’re like, “Hey, this is as bad as our quarterback will play and they still have a chance to win against a very quality team.” That that those are the things that kind of scare me because I’m like, “Damn, well, what if they just play halfway decent? Do they walk away with that game easily because their defense maybe played so well?” And that’s the one thing that a team can have an advantage on the 49ers. If your if your offense or not, excuse me, if your defense plays like that against the Niners to where you know what, hey, we’re going to kind of stifle the Niners a little bit. 49ers defense can’t really stop a nose bleed right now. Like that scares me. So, a team like the Seahawks, that can worry me a little bit. Unless you’re going to tell me that Sam Darnold is going to throw five interceptions against the 49ers as well. Good, right? I mean, you’re talking about a Rams and Seahawks team right now. Their point differential on the season is both one’s 100 and the other is 101. I mean, those are the two best in the NFL right after the Colts. So, this these are teams that put up a lot of points. And if that’s why the Eagles worry me so much is if they figure it out, if they find a way to start getting AJ Brown involved and they start actually rushing the ball well with Saquon Barkley, now you’re talking about probably the best defense in football putting up some offense. So, I mean, lot lot of I think the top three or four teams might all be in the NFC right now. The the the scenario that worries me is that there’s so many good teams and then so many bad teams in the NFC. The the AFC is just wide open. Everyone’s just kind of the same, I feel like. But the NFC, there’s clearly some good teams and then, you know, there’s there’s some bad teams. But there’s enough good teams with enough good records that what if the 49ers pull it off? And when I say pull it off, they get to the point where we’ve been talking about, hey, got to get to 10 wins. They get to 10 wins and they still don’t get in because there’s a bunch of other teams. And so that’s why those NFC games are important. Like if you lose to the Panthers and lose to the Bears and the Seahawks, but then win the AFC games, well, maybe you don’t have enough NFC wins anymore and you might lose a 10- win tiebreaker if there’s a bunch of teams because all those all three of those um NFC North teams could get to 10 wins. you know, the Panthers, if they beat the Niners, they would only need three more the rest of the way. They could get to 10 wins potentially. And if you know, maybe there’s uh maybe it’s the the Bucks that are maybe that they win the the South and it’s the Bucks who have the tiebreaker over the 49ers, right? And so, you don’t want to be sitting there worried about tiebreers if you’re the 49ers, especially with nine wins. So, you gota you got to handle your own business and you certainly got to beat the Panthers. That’s a big one. And uh and and handle your business the rest of the way. So, it’s going to be fun and I think it’s going to be a good game on Monday Night Football and Wink. I appreciate you jumping on with us as you do every single week. And I appreciate all the listeners out there making us your first listen of the day and helping make us the making the entire Locked On the number one sports podcast network. Back tomorrow, crossover time with Julian Council of Locked On Panthers. Talk to you then right here. Locked on 49ers. Can’t believe it.

The San Francisco 49ers are crushing it on the road, powered by their massive fan base that turns away games into home-field advantages. Brian Peacock, Eric Crocker, and Nick Winkler spotlight how 49ers faithful pack stadiums from LA to Arizona to Florida, giving Kyle Shanahan’s squad a unique edge—even forcing home teams to rely on silent counts. Is this relentless support helping the team maintain a next-man-up mentality despite a brutal streak of injuries?

Inside the NFC playoff chase, the crew breaks down key matchups as the 49ers gear up for a pivotal clash against Bryce Young’s surging Carolina Panthers. Discussion heats up around Brock Purdy’s return, division rivals like the Rams and Seahawks, and concerns over Brandon Aiyuk’s injury saga. Plus, they debate which teams—like the Cowboys or Eagles—pose the biggest threat to the 49ers’ postseason dreams, while celebrating rare highlights such as Skyy Moore’s electrifying kick return.

San Francisco 49ers fans are treated to daily news and analysis with Locked On 49ers, hosted by football analyst Brian Peacock and former NFL/AFL cornerback Eric Crocker.

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