San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey before a preseason NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints in Santa Clara, Calif., Aug. 18, 2024.

If you told any San Francisco 49ers fan going into the 2024 season that the team would start 3-3, they would probably panic.

Hell, there are likely many 49ers fans who, even after Thursday’s win over the Seattle Seahawks, still want to freak out faster than DK Metcalf freaks out over the slightest inconvenience.

I am here to tell anyone with itchy panic button fingers to abstain, because context is everything. To put it plainly: No one in the 49ers’ conference, let alone division, should have the Faithful concerned. It might sound nihilistic and anticlimactic to throw up one’s hands and say “LOL, nothing matters” this early in the regular season, but truly, the 49ers’ competition is so bad, and this team is so talented, that they can merely tread water, and it won’t impact their postseason aspirations.

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Let’s start with the division, because winning the NFC West is the 49ers’ ticket into the playoffs, no matter how the rest of the league does.

The 49ers dismantled the Seattle Seahawks in a game that was competitive only because the 49ers’ special teams are perennially atrocious. They should deal with that at some point, but for now, as demonstrated last week, they can overcome this weakness against inferior opponents. And trust me, these NFC West opponents are inferior.

The Seahawks haven’t beaten anyone of note — their three wins came against Bo Nix, Jacoby Brissett and Skylar Thompson — and were clearly out-classed against the Niners. The most optimistic scenario given their remaining schedule is around .500.

The Los Angeles Rams are 1-4, have severe injury issues on offense and are not good enough defensively in the........

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