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They’re beaten up, lined up at the training room, and missing far too many stars. They’re plugging holes on the fly and it sure looks like it sometimes.

The most seismic moment on Sunday probably came when Fred Warner waved to the Levi’s Stadium crowd from a suite, with his leg properly elevated and obviously months away from putting a uniform back on.

Yes, it could be and maybe should be quite bleak around this franchise these days.

And still, to paraphrase a famous member of a previous proud era: Who’s got it better than the 2025 49ers?

Maybe nobody. Maybe nobody has this kind of fighting spirit and building momentum in the face — and because? — of so many injuries.

Of course, almost every team in the league is healthier than the 49ers. No other team has lost two future Hall of Famers for the season coupled with the starting quarterback for five games.

But in the wake of their 20-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at Levi’s, there was a tangible sense of fulfillment in the 49ers’ locker room. And there was no denying that getting to a 5-2 record through all this injury wreckage is a gigantic statement about who the 49ers are and what they still can achieve this season.

“We’ve taken a lot of gut punches, a lot of blows,” Trent Williams said. “You know, it would’ve been easy to fold and I think a lot of people would’ve understood.

“You lose not only two of your best players but two of the best players to ever the game in Nick and Fred. And not having Brock, obviously just getting George (Kittle) back after not having him for five weeks. … We could’ve gave up. Could’ve tucked our tails and looked forward to next year. But guys keep fighting, man.”

Iron sharpens iron and — if it doesn’t break a team — surviving massive injuries can sharpen everybody even more.

Obviously, there are still miles to go this season. The 49ers still have to manage 10 more regular-season games without Bosa and Warner and on Sunday at least temporarily lost center Jake Brendel and cornerback Renardo Green.

But they got Kittle back for this game, and though he didn’t catch a pass, his presence on the field clearly was a big reason Christian McCaffrey finally broke loose running the ball with 129 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries (while also adding 7 catches for 72 yards). And Purdy and Ricky Pearsall are both on target to return for Sunday’s game in Houston.

This season could’ve been lost already. For all the same reasons, last season sunk swiftly.

And the 2025 49ers just keep churning forward. It’s not always pretty, including last week’s loss in Tampa and large stretches of this game, when Mac Jones didn’t look so great and some of the younger 49ers defenders seemed like a mismatch for the Falcons’ bevy of playmakers.

But the 49ers took the lead in the second quarter on McCaffrey’s first TD and tacked on two Eddy Piñeiro field goals; then the young defense just held on. McCaffrey finally sealed it with another TD, when, quite symbolically, he was literally half-carried across the goal line by guard Connor Colby.

Who keeps winning games like this? Nobody.

“It’s a testament to the leadership,” McCaffrey said. “When a guy like Fred or Bosa comes out, you’ve got young guys, guys who haven’t been in that position step up the way they have — it’s coaching, it’s leadership. And that doesn’t happen everywhere, I can promise you that.

“It’s fun group to be a part of knowing that every week is gonna be a fight.”

Somehow, Tatum Bethune (subbing for Warner), Chase Lucas (subbing for Upton Stout), Sam Okuayinonu (for Bosa), Darrell Luter Jr. (for Green), and all the others limited superstar tailback Bijan Robinson to only 40 rushing yards and the Falcons to only one TD.

Somehow, they covered Drake London and Kyle Pitts. Somehow, whatever had to get done got done.

“Man, we’ve got ballplayers all over this defense,” safety Ji’Ayir Brown said. “I feel y’all are starting to see now — with some of our fine players out.”

Designated pass rusher Bryce Huff is one of the few defenders in exactly the same role as the start of the season and he made the biggest play of the game, flying past the right tackle and knocking the ball loose from QB Michael Penix Jr. late in the first half. Alfred Collins recovered, and the 49ers quickly turned that into a field goal and a 10-3 lead going into halftime.

Then the 49ers kept grinding. Other than a Jones first-half interception when he threw to Jauan Jennings in a crowd and Jennings bobbled and tipped it to a Falcon linebacker Kaden Elliss, the 49ers made no serious errors. And eventually, the Falcons ran out of plays and the game was over.

Afterwards, Shanahan was very satisfied because the 49ers did it exactly the way he told the team they had to do it: by establishing a physical edge on the lighter Atlanta defense and running it 40 times.

The 49ers actually only got to 39 rush attempts (for 174 yards), but that’s close enough. After heavily tilting to the passing game early this season, on Sunday, Jones threw it only 26 times, completing 17, for 152 yards.

The greater Shanahan theme is that you can’t call all those running plays just to prove a point. A majority-run game is holistic. You have to play a complete game to give yourself the chance to run it that much.

“Kyle always says it takes a whole team to be able to run the ball,” McCaffrey said. “It takes receivers, it takes tight ends, obviously it takes an O-line, it takes guys like (Kyle Juszczyk), it takes the quarterback being able to stay on the field on third down. And then it takes the defense stepping up so that you have opportunities to run, you’re not super behind.

“I’ve never heard a coach say that, but that makes so much sense to me.”

It takes some stubbornness and belief to want to run it 40 times. It takes gumption to call out that kind of game plan with so many missing stars. And it takes some very tough — and resilient — players to pull it off, to maneuver through some tougher moments, and hold themselves to a standard that could’ve gone away once Bosa and Warner were lost.

The standard is still there, though. The talent level is lower, but maybe the will is stronger now, just because it has to be.