San Francisco 49ers

Rams vs. 49ers: Prepare for Inevitable Week 1 Overreaction to San Francisco

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The San Francisco 49ers kick off 2016 with a Monday Night Football contest against the Los Angeles Rams at Levi’s Stadium. Regardless of the outcome, get ready for all the overreaction you can handle.

The San Francisco 49ers hope to get their 2016 season off to a strong start with a victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football.

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Of course every NFL team hopes for a Week 1 victory. And, also of course, the opening contest for each and every team breeds overreaction and speculation big and small.

It’s one of the things us fans can count on right along the return of meaningful football.

And the Niners, already laden with speculation and questions entering this season, won’t be immune to the overreaction the team will see when the final whistle blows Monday night.

This will happen, win or lose.

Let’s go back to Week 1 of the 2015 season. Remember when the 49ers walloped the Minnesota Vikings 20-3 on MNF?

That game came in the wake of one of the most disastrous offseasons in franchise history. And yet running back Carlos Hyde rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns. San Francisco’s defense sacked Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater five — yes, five — times.

All this led us to believe, at least for a second, CEO Jed York’s comparison of head coach Jim Tomsula to Warriors head coach Steve Kerr actually made some sense.

Of course the Niners went 5-11, and that Monday night game ended up being the team’s lone decisive victory. Hyde never “broke out” and the 49ers finished with a paltry 28 sacks — 29th in the league last year. Tomsula was out after one season.

Chip Kelly and 2016

Chris Brown of The Ringer recently put together a piece describing why head coach Chip Kelly’s offense is failing after being so innovative when he first broke into the league in 2013.

Chip Kelly's offense is fundamentally broken. I wrote about what went wrong in my first piece for the @ringer https://t.co/HPV9eTSCeO

— Chris B. Brown (@smartfootball) September 9, 2016

It’s an interesting piece. And whether or not you agree the conclusions will likely receive plenty of influence after Week 1.

If the Niners pull off a victory over the Rams, everyone will be saying how Kelly has made his adjustments and is getting the most of his team. But if San Francisco loses, the speculators will argue Brown is correct.

Kelly isn’t adjusting. And no amount of talent on the 49ers offense can make up the difference.

This is only one facet of what promises to be a whirlwind of overreaction.

The reality is the true nature is somewhere in between any overenthusiastic hype or downtrodden despair.

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Week 1 games are, in many cases, a bit of an anomaly. They’re weird — just like San Francisco’s seemingly dominant victory last season, over a playoff-bound Vikings squad, gave fans a false sense of hope.

Think about what your reaction was after that game. It’s doubtful you felt, “phew… got that one out of the way, because the next few weeks are going to suck.”

Who knows how we’ll feel late Monday night and into Tuesday morning. But we can guarantee the reaction is going to be way overboard.

All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of ESPN.com, Pro-Football-Reference.com and Sports-Reference.com unless otherwise indicated.

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