'Something is off' with 49ers, but everyone is avoiding saying what

San Francisco 49ers’ Brock Purdy stands on the field after 24-23 loss to Arizona Cardinals during NFL game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024.

NFL media appears to be at a loss for words regarding the San Francisco 49ers’ struggles in recent weeks. While there’s an overall agreement that the team is in a rough spot after the Niners blew their second double-digit fourth quarter lead in three weeks, nobody can pinpoint an exact source of the team’s issues.

The vague allusions to the 49ers’ problems began when San Francisco Chronicle columnist Mike Silver got the quote of the week from cornerback Charvarius “Mooney” Ward after Sunday’s 24-23 loss to the Cardinals. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms).

“This year, for sure, it feels weird,” the player told Silver. “It feels real, real weird. I mean, hopefully it’ll turn around, but it’s just real peculiar. We’ve got a lot of talent, and we’re losing games we’re supposed to win.”

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As if those words weren’t already cryptic enough, the cornerback added another comment that should have raised eyebrows even higher than they already were.

“Yeah, I know exactly what [the problem] is,” he said, emphasizing the “exactly” according to Silver. The columnist wrote that he prompted Ward to elaborate. The defensive back “started to answer but then thought better of it,” Silver........

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