The biggest reason why the 49ers are pretenders

An easy schedule can't mask this.

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The San Francisco 49ers are 7-4 and the odds of them making the playoffs are very high. However, there is still a sense that the team is not quite in the contender group when looking at the road ahead. 

Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report went through the 21 teams still competing for the playoffs and made the case for why they were a contender or a pretender. For the 49ers, he chose pretender.

Are the San Francisco 49ers contenders or pretenders?

The case for contenders was the wins that they banked, while the case for pretenders was that the injuries were going to be too much. The overall verdict came down harshly on Purdy. 

Verdict: Pretender. A soft remaining schedule will get them in, but Purdy isn't the guy with this current surrounding cast, and the defense has suffered too much loss.

Brad Gagnon

This very well may be true. Purdy has not put together the sample size or the host of highlight reel plays that make you think he can be more than just the sum of his parts. Purdy could prove him wrong, and he has had runs of very strong play. However, if this writer ends up being wrong, it will likely be about the supporting cast. 

When they get going on all cylinders, the supporting cast is strong enough to make Purdy an MVP candidate. We have already seen George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey hitting their strides this season. Ricky Pearsall was one of the best deep threats in the NFL during his brief span of health to start the year, and he just returned to the lineup. Jauan Jennings has been dealing with injury issues, but now that he is not the only target that teams dial in on, things may get easier. 

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The offensive line is healthy for the first time in a long time, with Ben Bartch providing an upgrade at left guard. The only real question is Brandon Aiyuk. If he comes back, this group of 10 around Pudry is the best in the NFL and one of the best that Kyle Shanahan has had. 

It is fair to be skeptical that this will ever come together, and it is even more fair to say that the defense is so bad that the offense will have to set records to win a Super Bowl. If the 49ers do not win this year, that will be the reason. 

However, saying that Purdy cannot put up MVP numbers with this group of skill players is selling the group around him short, or assuming they will not be a healthy unit.