I am back to give you another mailbag as we prepare for this Sunday. The San Francisco 49ers will be taking on the Houston Texans in what should be an interesting game. Interesting because Houston has a good defense.Houston’s offense makes me wonder if the 49ers finally get that one interception that has escaped their grasp for weeks, so this silly streak of no interceptions can end.
As you know, I take questions I find on the feed and then answer what I can in a post here. If you want to possibly see your question here, or are curious to what I’d say on it (yes, all three of you), post it in the feed.
And now onto your questions.
As Mayor of Punterville/Kickerville, if you’re John Lynch, how quickly do you work to extend Eddy “Money” — you know, just so we can all have peace in our time and potentially enjoy two tickets to paradise?
—Spartan83
As quickly as humanly possible. Pineiro is signed through 2025. He’s already made himself reliable and irreplaceable after what fans have endured during the Jake Moody saga. At this point, locking him up for another two years before season’s end might be a no-brainer. The big question is what he would ask for or what he wants to do. He came under the radar and wasn’t even a Kompetitor in Kicker Kombat this offseason—that honor went to Greg Joseph.
After Moody’s Week 1, Pineiro was the guy they brought in and brought consistency back to the kicker position. If I’m the 49ers, I don’t let him enter free agency
Oh, and I’m the former mayor of Punterville. Hasn’t anyone told you? Punterville has been completely abandoned.
I think we should draft players who don’t have hamstrings. Cut down on the injuries. But seriously, why do we have so many hammie injuries, don’t they have staff to make sure they stretch before the game??
—BilltheBiker
The injuries are not fun. I was going to ask how much more the 49ers can take of this as a rhetorical question, but they’ve cleaned house in the past.They’ve had several hires and rehires all with the purpose of getting the injury problem figured out. This goes back to the firings of the 2018 season (where then-starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo tore his ACL in Week 3), and recently they just had to revamp the staff again.
The hamstrings are one thing. The ACLs, broken ankles, etc are freak accidents. I think we can agree on those two points. The interesting thing is, the context of how Nick Bosa found out he had a torn ACL. And that can be applied to your hamstring question and other issues.
Recall, when Nick Bosa jumped off the field, the 49ers didn’t think it was a serious knee injury. It wasn’t ruled out, but that was what Kyle Shanahan said in his press conference.
What happens after this is a bit strange. The next day we find it’s an ACL tear. After the injury occurred during the Week 3 game against the Arizona Cardinals, Bosa gave the thumbs down sign to his family. He knew he tore it, and tests the next day confirmed it.
Now that is a freak accident. My question is, how are they evaluating other injuries, like the hamstrings, that are preventable? If that wasn’t an ACL, and it was, say, a pulled hamstring, how are they diagnosing it? That’s one example, but are there other injuries, preventable injuries, that they run a test on to see the severity of and then run that player back out when he needs rest?
My curiosity is while an ACL tear is a freak accident, I’d like to know how the initial tests made them think it wasn’t an ACL tear. Don’t forget, Bosa knew he tore it before he further tests the next day. That’s where I’m a bit curious.
How far can the Niners really go this season?
—ninersSB6
At the beginning of the season, I thought a wild card was believable and an exit in the NFC Divisional. Now, with how much parity there is in the NFL this season, I think the 49ers COULD make the NFC Championship. There’s going to need to be a lot of things going both the 49ers way and against the rest of the NFC, but it’s a possibility.
Believe it or not, Kyle Shanahan is a good coach and he is coaching like there is no tomorrow. Any other roster would be calling it a developmental season and preparing for next year. I don’t think the 49ers can win a Super Bowl with the roster they have. I do think an NFC Championship at-best is some good optimism. Realistically I see them making and winning a playoff game and then not much else.
But be optimistic. One more draft next year and that defense is going to be filthy.
How good is Tatum Bethune? He looked lost on the first game (with very little prep) but looked very good vs ATL on SNF. How much of that was more time to prep and how much was the ATL QB is just that much worse than Baker?
—CanWeCloneJoe
Imagine that. A player drafted in the 2024 NFL Draft struggles in his rookie season, but after a year in the league starts to get experience and looks much better. Isn’t development so interesting?
We’re about to find out how good Bethune is. We can’t judge how good he is on one game as teams will get film on him. The Houston Texans are a disaster on offense so this could be a good barometer of his skill level. Then, assuming we get the same positive results as the Atlanta Falcons game, we need consistency. How many quarterbacks do you see light the league up in a single game only to go cold a game or so later? Same can be said for every player.
I think Bethune will be really good if I’m basing how he looked in one game against the offense he played against last week. Yes, I’m aware there were injuries to the Falcons offense. Bethune doesn’t need to lead the team in tackles every single week, but I need to see him flying around, following the ball correctly on a consistent basis.
I’m sticking with the trade theme given the date.
Who do yo think of as the perfect (realistic) target?
—NYNiners
My stance on trades changed when Fred Warner went down with injury. At this point, I don’t want any trades done for a rental or one-and-done. The 49ers need to see what they have with their depth and younger guys, for better or worse. So a realistic target has to be someone that can contribute this year, but also have a couple years left on their current deal or is willing to sign an extension mid-season for a few years so the 49ers know specifically what holes to plug in the draft.
That means a pass rusher might not be the answer. Or, maybe it is? I think an offensive lineman would be great for the depth they have. Perhaps someone who can fill in at guard for now and be “Left Tackle in Waiting” for when Trent Williams calls it a career, but that’s a very difficult decision to make midseason (the left tackle understudy should be taken with the first or second pick in the 2026 draft and have a year to learn, preferably).
Oct 26 is National Tight Ends Day and also our tussle with the Texans. Our beloved George Kittle was basically a non-factor in the passing game (bless his blocking heart) against Atlanta. Will George feature more in Houston? And how will he be combined with Farell and/or Tonges?
—Flydyl
The Houston Texans may be the hardest defense the 49ers have faced, and they also might be the easiest offense after what we saw Monday night against the Seattle Seahawks. How the 49ers use George Kittle will depend on their plans for the run game. Given that the Texans had four turnovers on the Seahawks, maybe throwing the ball isn’t the best of decisions. That said, Kittle is the right guy to throw the ball to against that defense.
As for Farrell and Tonges? I think Tonges has earned the right to be featured with Kittle as a second tight end. I’m curious what that duo could look like in the coming weeks. My guess is some good misdirection with Kittle could open up Tonges since Kittle could be priority No. 1 with all the wide receiver injuries.
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