Three games in, and yet another takeaway after a close game against Kansas City.

1. The Run Defense Is Legit

Despite giving over 100 to Jeanty in week one, we were able to hold Kenneth Walker to just 70 yards. That is a massive drop off compared to the last two weeks of 173 and 117. It's not just one game, last week we held the Niners to 95 rushing yards and made Brock Purdy their top rusher. We are not an elite run defense, but holding one of the hottest RB's to under 100 yards is a massive accomplishment.

2. Malik Willis Shown Some Flashes

One of the reasons we stayed in this game was because Malik was able to get things going for a bit. He wasn't perfect, and I don't think he ever connected on a deep ball he thrown, but he showed a glimpse of what he can do when he is throwing the ball to an actual WR1. He was throwing the ball yesterday to Malik Washington, Kevin Coleman, an out of shape Chris Bell, and Greg Dulcich. Caleb Douglas was out of the game and Achane played one drive, but from everything I have seen from this game is making me more confident in Willis down the stretch.

3. Our Opponents

Despite being 0-3, we are currently looking at who we played and feel good about ourselves. We played the Raiders (now 3-0), the 49ers (now 3-0), and the Chiefs (3-0) and three weeks in are looking like three of the top ten teams in the NFL. They also have a combined record of 9-0. We're not making the playoffs, I already knew that before training camp, but we will be better than expected. We are getting slept on by a lot of people, that makes us true upset contenders. Looking at the schedule, during the training camp, I identified 5 games I thought we can win and I gave us an extra win for an upset. Now I still have 6 wins, but I am looking at some potential upset games like the Bears wondering if week one was just a fluke, the Bills we could upset one of the two times we play, Broncos could be beatable if they continue to only play the 4th quarter, Lions I can't tell anymore, the Bengals defense isn't as great as people make it out to be, and then next week against the Vikings could definitely be an upset with Kyler Murray being the weakest QB we will play so far this season and former Dolphins HC and current Vikings DC Brian Flores getting a little too addicted to the blitz that we all know will eventually cost him once he plays against the right team (not saying we are, just saying there will be someone who will hang 40 while they are out there blitzing). I feel confident saying we will win 6 games, but I could also see us winning another game or two against one of these teams I mentioned.

4. De'Von Achane Is Out For The Year

This really does hurt. Heading into this season, I expected that the only way we can win games is if the offense runs through him, but now he is gone. But after these three weeks, I realized that we are playing better with Achane on the bench. Look at yesterday, he only played one drive and Willis and Gordon were able to keep this run game going. Granted, the two combined barely got to 100 yards, but what kept us alive against the Chiefs was our pass game. I think in hindsight this also helps us because one of the biggest concerns was not having a true RB2. Wright underperformed in training camp and in the pre season and Ollie is more of a 3rd down back anyways. With Achane out, we have every reason to trade for a young guy to be our RB1 this season and our RB2 next season forming our own Sonic and Knuckles when Achane is back and healthy. In short, I hate that we lost Achane, but I think this could be a blessing in disguise for us.

There is all I have for this week. Keep an eye out this time next week for the takeaways for the Vikings game.