Do the 49ers Have a Weakness?

Every team should have a weakness -- there's a salary cap.

The 49ers are the best team in the NFL and it's not even close.

They're undefeated. They've outscored opponents by 99 points -- tops in the NFL. They've given up the fewest points in the NFL and scored the second most. Their quarterback, Brock Purdy, leads the NFL in passer rating, while their running back, Christian McCaffrey, leads the NFL in yards from scrimmage and touchdowns. Both are legitimate MVP candidates.

This past Sunday, the 49ers faced their first "test" of the 2023 season -- the Dallas Cowboys. And the 49ers embarrassed them. Beat them 42-10 on national television. Neutralized the best edge rusher in the NFL, Micah Parsons, and made Dak Prescott look completely washed up.

So do the 49ers have a weakness?

Every team should have a weakness -- there's a salary cap. Teams have to pick and choose where to invest in their roster. Where they want to spend big and where they want to save money.

The 49ers are forced to make these tough decisions, too, and yet they still have one of the most dominant rosters in decades. It's almost like a pre-salary-cap roster, the kind you'd see from the 49ers and Cowboys in the early 1990s.

The 49ers choose to save money on their offensive line, so clearly that's a weakness. And yet, it gave up just one sack this past week to the best pass rush in the league. Kyle Shanahan is so good at scheming around that weakness, and Purdy is so good at avoiding pressure, and McCaffrey is so good at running the ball, mediocre pass protection hasn't hurt the 49ers yet.

The 49ers also have a weakness at slot cornerback -- Isaiah Oliver is replaceable. But he's the only weakness on the defense, which is elite. And the offense is elite, too. So Oliver isn't hurting the 49ers much.

As long as the 49ers stay healthy, they're as close to having no weaknesses as an NFL team could be.