SANTA CLARA – Kyle Shanahan isn’t calling the 49ers overachievers, “because we believed we could do this,” he claimed of their injury-laden 6-3 start.

The 49ers are essentially leading the NFC West trophy hunt by virtue of a win over each division foe, including a 26-23 overtime win at the Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 2.

Sunday brings the Rams (6-2 overall, 0-1 NFC West) into Levi’s Stadium, and any head-to-head tiebreaker can be nullified if they beat the 4 1/2-point underdog 49ers. “We’re in the hunt,” Shanahan added, “but we’ll see how we finish the rest of this half out.”

Last season, without Christian McCaffrey for the first two months, they opened 5-4. Whether or not that team overachieved, the 49ers then went on a 1-6 nosedive for a 6-11 record.

Included in that 2024 freefall was a

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