Chill out, 49ers fans

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Youre itching to go goofy on this 3-1 49er start, we can tell. The twitches, the froth, the talking in short, loud burststheyre all tells for people getting ahead of themselves.And in fairness, going goofy feels good to you. Youve waited nearly a decade for this, and you want it. Bad.But you cant have it, not yet. Not if you know whats good for you. Because you remember 2009.The 49ers went 3-1 that year, too. Led a game and a half after four, and the rest of the NFC West smelled every bit as rank as they do now. Mike Singletary was a genius, Greg Manusky was a mastermind, and the cherubim and seraphim were singing the entire Lil Wayne play list.
In fact, one TV moron predicted after Week 4 that the 49ers were a lock to win the division. I think with a bit of imagination, you can figure out the identity of said dolt.Four weeks later, the 49ers were 3-5, Singletary was a clod, Manusky was deeply flawed, and gimping in at 8-8 seemed like a serious letdownbecause it was.The message? Calm down. The Philadelphia win was a nice piece, in much the same way that Jim Harbaughs 24-23 win at USC in 2007 was a nice piece. But that Stanford team lost the next four games, too.Truth is, the 49ers are still hard to figure. Frank Gore is not cured, no matter what you saw Sunday, and Alex Smith has not become Matt Ryan. They will revert from time to time, and the 49ers will combine this high with a corresponding low, because the NFL in 2011 is like that. Nothing is known, less is safely assumed.In short, the best way to have a lousy Halloween is to think September cured your cough.This isnt just random mellow-harshing, either. Just a caution not to do what TV nitwits fell for two years ago. The same seductive arguments that caused overreaction two years ago are still therebad division, first-time coach with a full off-season to clean out the bad habits of the predecessor, the firm belief that Alex Smith can be cured and Frank Gore isnt old at all and Patrick Willis is Patrick Willis for all eternity.And it all collapsed within a month.What happened in 2009 may have little validity. What happened in 2007 may have no relation to now at all. But one quarter of anything is by definition small sample size, and Tampa Bay and Detroit in the next two weeks will have as much to do with the 49ers season as Philadelphia or Cincinnati the past two.Thus, chilling out is clearly the order of the day. The 49ers have done this before, and you havent liked the way it got done, or who got did when it was all over. Its early, too early, and you get ahead of yourself at your peril.Unless, of course, you want to look like a TV boob too, and trust us, that is no way to live.

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