Got That Cat In Him

Can we talk about dogs?

Everyone always speaks of a competitive, resilient, tough athlete as "having that dog in them." Nobody has ever said, "He's got that cat in him."

Which is a real shame because cats are really one of the best things about living. They cuddle, they play, they knead biscuits, they talk, they scrap, they don't need anyone to take them to the bathroom, and they clean themselves! I haven't even mentioned how cute they are.

In Greece we have colonies of feral cats that live off the scraps of fish and octopus on the islands. They are fearless animals who will hustle both the natives and the tourists for a morsel of their branzino (lavraki), who, once rewarded, ferry the nibbles away to either escape from jealous and handsy peers, or to feed a litter of kittens.

Have you ever smelled the aroma of a roasted branzino being served at a taverna? It's to die for, and it never fails to excite both the feline street urchins and the Norwegian tour groups.

These are no freeloaders either. They run elaborate games to survive and will scratch and claw if something gets between them and a meal. Many of them shoulder on with only one eye! Those streets might be picturesque, but they are still streets.

The San Fransisco 49ers have been living like island cats this season too. Lose an eye? Lose the best linebacker in football? Lose out on when the taverna owner bought locks for his trash bins? Lose your three best receivers, your tight end and your minted starting quarterback? It doesn't matter.

But, losing the margins you might have experienced in a previous life shouldn't result in apathy, or depression. It should light a fire in your belly. It should make your lock in that much harder because your next meal is not guaranteed.

Well coach Kyle Shanahan has that cat in him. After suffering through the worst season of injuries in 2024 the hope was that the 49ers would regress in a positive direction towards the mean this year. That has not happened.

But you would never know it by how hard the 49ers are playing and how motivated Shanahan is coaching. The 49ers will continue to get players back on offense which bodes well for the second half of the season. On defense they have continued to swarm to the branzino in waves despite losing their best pass rusher Nick Bosa (torn ACL) and star linebacker Fred Warner (dislocated ankle) for the season.

We like the 49ers to cover as road dogs (+2.5) even though for the sake of this piece we would like you to think of them as "road cats."

We are also taking another cat catching a break in Cincinnati. Take the Bengals to cover by a touchdown at home over a pungent Jets squad. Joe Flacco is eating his dinners alone in Cincinnati before most happy hours start and would probably love the company of a hungry feral puss. Well, he's gonna eat today.

Finally we like the Saints as a home cat to cover (+3.5) against their division rivals the first place Buccaneers. The Saints are feisty. These two cannot play a normal game against each other. It should be close.

Last Week 1-2

Season 9-8