Kurtenbach: ‘Next man up’? For the 3-0 49ers, it’s not just an empty saying

SANTA CLARA — “Next man up” is the kind of football phrase that gets tossed around locker rooms like used spat tape.

And it’s usually a desperate Hail Mary — a coping mechanism for a team that’s already on life support — limping to a six-win season like the one the Niners did last year.

We’ve heard “next man up” quite often in Santa Clara over the years. And we’re hearing it a lot this season, too.

But after Sunday’s 16-15 comeback win over the Arizona Cardinals, something’s different this year.

The 49ers’ MRI machine might as well have a waiting room outside it this season. The starting quarterback’s out. The No. 1 and No. 2 receivers are on the shelf (don’t forget about Brandon Aiyuk, folks). The star tight end is on injured reserve. Then, just to twist the knife, all-world defensive end Nick Bosa went down in the first quarter of Sunday’s game with a knee injury that looks like anything but minor.

Any other team, and you’d have a white flag flying over the stadium.

But this team might end this season on top of the NFC West.

The Niners are 3-0 with two division wins to their name, following a wild Houdini act against the Cardinals.

How?

Because this 2025 edition of the Niners goes deeper than the surface.

Three games in, and this team has already proven it has some serious gumption.

You see it in the rookies and first-time starters who are receiving a trial by fire and seem incombustible.

You see it in backup quarterback Mac Jones, who drove the team down the field in the final two minutes to kick the game-winning field goal Sunday despite a gimpy knee, a shaky offensive line and, frankly, a roster of guys who probably don’t know each other’s names yet, outside of Ricky Pearsall and Christian McCaffrey. (The duo received nearly 70 percent of the Niners’ pass attempts Sunday.)

You see it in the coaches, who have shown an exceptional ability to roll with the punches and not be overwhelmed by circumstances, even as the circumstances have become increasingly dire.

This Niners team doesn’t have the same talent level we saw in 2019 or 2023 — five-star squads who often rolled over NFL competition like Ohio State rolls over some East-West State Polytechnic. Injuries have only made that disparity more obvious.

No, this is a team that has to fight for every single inch, playing games that will be decided on the margins. But they seem prepared to handle that reality. They seem comfortable in these new, tight quarters, even as they play with relative strangers.

As head coach Kyle Shanahan said, “The fortitude, the resiliency throughout that game was really, really impressive.”

“All three of those games were games that could have gone either way. We’ve had to overcome a lot in those games going into them, with some injuries and some people we lost during the game,” Shanahan continued. “Those are some of the games we struggled to win last year. …  And to win all three? I can’t say enough about the guys in there.”

Yes, San Francisco has played three nail-biters, and they probably have 14 more down-to-the-wire games coming. But so far, they’ve thrived. Ignore the box score, forget the bad plays — pay attention to the only thing that matters: the final digits on the scoreboard.

Because the Niners’ success isn’t just about the big plays in the clutch; it’s about how they’ve responded to mistakes, to counterpunches, to chaos. Jones threw a boneheaded interception with five minutes to play, and on the next possession, the Niners gave up a safety, giving Arizona the lead and the ball with 206 seconds to play.

Yet they still won the game.

It was the kind of performance that was brutal for a columnist trying to make a deadline and incredible for an NFL team trying to make the playoffs.

“[It’s] testimony about how we play for each other,” said cornerback Deomodore Lenoir.

As fullback Kyle Juszczyk put it, “This team is not what it’s going to be, yet. We’re still trying to figure out who we are. … We’ve found ways to win, and you always want to be able to try to figure things out and still finish with a win.”

Yes, this Niners team is looking like a squad that refuses to lose, and given the circumstances, that’s more dangerous than any All-Star roster.

And it better be, because with all these injuries, it’s hard to imagine a Pro Bowl roster getting together in Santa Clara before the NFC and AFC Champions arrive for the Super Bowl in February.

As star linebacker Fred Warner likes to remind folks, the injury rate in the NFL is 100 percent. The question isn’t whether you’ll get injured, it’s when. And since the football gods have decided the Niners will never get any relief in that department, it’s best they get on with things.

In past years, the Niners have assessed the circumstances and said “see you next year” behind the scenes, while pushing the “next man up” narrative in public.

Not this year, though.

This year, they mean it.

This year, they believe it.

And after three wins in three tight games, can anyone tell them they’re wrong?