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For the first time the 49ers started 3-0 in September, they have won back-to-back games.
Wins over Arizona and Carolina pushed Kyle Shanahan’s team to 8-4, and now San Francisco’s veteran roster is trying to push through one more game before a long-awaited bye week arrives.
The Cleveland Browns are just 3-8, but they boast one of the NFL’s top defenses and edge rusher Myles Garrett might have the league’s Defensive Player of the Year Award locked up already. Garrett and the Browns will challenge 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, who threw three first-half interceptions in the team’s sloppy win over the Panthers on Monday night.
What should 49ers fans expect for a team traveling to the Eastern Time Zone on a short week? Here are our predictions.
**Kawakami: George Kittle**. I don’t think the 49ers will get a ton of yards in this game, but most of the ones they’ll really need probably will come from their most physical offensive player. First downs will be precious in this game. And when the Browns’ excellent defense sells out to stop Christian McCaffrey, that should open up some room for Kittle to help move the chains and score a touchdown or two.
**Lombardi: Brock Purdy.** It’ll have to be for the 49ers to prevail. And Purdy doesn’t need to be spectacular. But he must manage this game’s challenges — Cleveland’s top-ranked defensive front and potential lake-effect snow conditions — to position the 49ers to hold serve as favorites.
**Kawakami: Upton Stout**. The 49ers’ coaches love this guy for a good reason — despite his size, he’s always around the ball and he’s never afraid to hit somebody. For all the action he’s had, Stout is overdue for an interception. I’ll write him down for one, maybe with a big return.
**Lombardi: Bryce Huff.** He was really good against the Carolina Panthers and will have a chance to chase Browns rookie QB Shedeur Sanders around. The 49ers’ enjoyed their best marriage of pass rush and coverage on Monday and now must carry their success over to Cleveland on a short week. That’s never easy, but it’ll be doable if Huff delivers a strike or two of lightning.
**Kawakami: Purdy in the weather**. If he has figured out how to play in these conditions, this is a perfect I’m-still-the-guy bounce-back moment from Monday’s three-interception messiness. If Purdy is as uncertain in this weather as he was in wet conditions back in Cleveland in October 2023 … that’s big trouble.
**Lombardi: Christian McCaffrey.** The 49ers have him and the Browns don’t. Remember that the 49ers were even hanging around their snowstorm showdown against the Buffalo Bills, which also happened on the shores of Lake Erie on post-Thanksgiving weekend, last year before McCaffrey went down with a PCL injury. The Bills blew the 49ers out of the water after that.
**Kawakami: 49ers’ rushing yards**. The Browns’ defense is good, but not perfect; in recent losses they got pounded on the ground by the Ravens and Patriots. Maybe this is the week that Brian Robinson Jr. gets 10 carries or more. If he matches or exceeds his current 4.7-yard average, that’d be a valuable chunk in this game.
**Lombardi: Sanders’ passer rating.** Fortunately for the 49ers, Sanders — and not Josh Allen — is the opposing QB in a game that might feature inclement weather. Sure, Sanders was decent against the Las Vegas Raiders last week. But that means little against a 49ers defense coming off its best effort of the season. A repeat performance would set San Francisco, 5-point favorites, up for victory.
**Kawakami: 49ers 20, Browns 17**. I’ve had a strong belief in my previous seven picks — and not coincidentally, have hit all seven. This week, I’m sure that this will be a field-position, defense-dominated game that will turn on major mistakes. But who wins it? I’m just flipping a coin and guessing that the 49ers move the ball a little better, turn it over less, block Myles Garrett reasonably well, get a late field goal from Matt Gay, and happily get the hell out of Cleveland and into their long-awaited bye week.
**Lombardi: 49ers 20, Browns 13.** This high of a scoring output against this defense in these conditions would actually be a statement from the 49ers’ offense. But I think they’re ready to deliver a statement. Outside of Purdy’s bizarre three-drive stretch on Monday, the 49ers moved the ball in workmanlike fashion. They’ll be ready to deliver calculated efficiency Sunday.