First half of 49ers season shows resilience, room to grow

Catch up quick: The 49ers entered the season with hopes of defending its NFC title after returning several key players on offense and heading into year eight of the Kyle Shanahan regime.

Yes, but: They were derailed early and often with injuries to star running back Christian McCaffrey, who has yet to play in a game this season, and receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who is out for the year after tearing his ACL and MCL.

• The team's first round draft pick Ricky Pearsall has only played in two games after being shot in the chest in late August during an attempted robbery.

State of play: Despite the early season adversity, San Francisco is tied for first place in the NFC West with the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks who are each 4-4.

• Caveat: If the playoffs started today, the 49ers would miss out though because Arizona holds the tiebreaker over them.

What we're watching: San Francisco is still very much in charge of its own destiny but has a tough schedule to close out the season. Three of their remaining nine games are against the Cardinals, Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams.

• However, they have road games at Green Bay (6-2) and Buffalo (6-2) and a Monday night matchup at home against the Detroit Lions who have the league's second best record at 6-1.
• As of Wednesday, The Athletic gives the 49ers a 41% chance to make the playoffs (best in their division) and a 33% chance to win the NFC West.

The bottom line: The 49ers deserve a B- for still being in the NFC playoff race, but they'll need to play closer to an A+ if they hope to make a serious run for the franchise's sixth Super Bowl trophy.