Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco 49ers are in an early season slump and are 2-3 after losing three of their last four games. It’s not the start this Super Bowl-aspiring roster had in mind. Part of the problem could be the absence of attacking playmaker Christian McCaffrey, who is not yet at his best this season as he deals with issues with his calf and Achilles tendonitis.

Despite McCaffrey’s absence, Jordan Mason has performed admirably, although a late-game fumble in Sunday’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals proved costly. Mason has compiled an impressive 536 rushing yards and three touchdowns on a league-leading 105 carries. He remains on pace to surpass 1,800 rushing yards this season – should he continue as starter.

McCaffrey is expected to return sometime this season, possibly as soon as the Super Bowl rematch in Week 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs. For now, he continues his rehabilitation, with the goal of working his way back into the lineup.

A team with as much talent as the 49ers should have no trouble putting aside opponents like the Cardinals. Something doesn’t feel right this season, and the team hopes to turn things around on Thursday night against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. Another loss could be a serious setback.

“It definitely feels weird this year,” cornerback Charvarius Ward said after Sunday’s loss to Michael Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle. “It feels really, really strange. I mean, hopefully it will change, but it’s just very strange. We have a lot of talent and we’re losing games that we should be winning.”

Ward, who earned a career-high defensive grade of 84.7 from Pro Football Focus last season, has seen his passing grade drop to a career-low 53.4 this season. Opposing quarterbacks are giving him a 99.5 rating when targeting him, and he’s allowing 15.2 yards per reception, his highest mark since 2019.

“I feel like I’m playing one of the worst balls of my career,” Warn admitted.

The good news is that the veteran cornerback believes he has identified the problem, but was tight-lipped on the details.

Deommodore Lenoir, who celebrated his birthday on Sunday with a spectacular 61-yard touchdown return on a blocked field goal, is also feeling the strangeness of the season.

“Yeah, losing to Arizona, it feels weird,” Lenoir told Silver. “In the four years we’ve been here, we don’t do that (often). So I can agree with that.”

Fullback Kyle Juszczyk echoed his teammates’ sentiments, saying, “Tell me we block a field goal for a touchdown? We are winning that game. I mean, it’s weird. It’s not like everything is fine, but it’s not like the world either. crumbling.”

‘Weird’ indeed seems to be the theme. For the second time this season, the 49ers let a late lead slip away against a division opponent.

“As a whole, as a team, we’ve always been an organization and a team that finds ways to win,” defenseman Nick Bosa said after the loss to the Cardinals. “So far, we’re actually doing the opposite. We’re finding ways to lose. It doesn’t matter how good players are. It doesn’t matter how explosive the offense is. If you let teams hang around and not play. If you play later in the game you have the best ball, then you end up in these kinds of situations.”

Yet Bosa, like Juszczyk, does not overreact. The 49ers have a recent track record of overcoming adversity, as seen last season after a three-game skid in October.

“I haven’t lost any confidence in the team,” Bosa said. “It’s early, it’s been a long year. We’ve been through worse and I think we’ll respond well.”