The 49ers’ ‘f—king gangster’ streak is finally over

Despite San Francisco not playing Monday, a 49ers streak came to an end when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns, 26-22.

Last season, every single opponent the Niners faced lost its next game the following week. (The Chiefs beat the Titans in overtime after playing the Niners but had a bye week between those games. The Cardinals don’t count because they ended their season against the 49ers.) Overall, teams that played the Niners the previous week were 0-15 in their red-and-gold hangover games.

Players sometimes like to downplay statistical accomplishments, arguing that, at the end of the day, what matters most is that their team gets a win. That wasn’t the case with this streak.

“It really shows the type of team we are, the type of character we have,” fullback Kyle Juszczyk told the San Francisco Chronicle earlier this month. “Honestly, I don’t think I’ve heard of a cooler stat. It’s a f—king gangster stat, a savage stat. We’re out there to be physical as hell. Teams are gonna have to bring everything to beat us, and it’s gonna be hard to recover.” (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)

This was clearly a badge of honor for the team and indicative of its physical approach to the game. Former Niners safety Jimmie Ward told the Chronicle that players would come up to him during offseason workouts to say, “Man y’all boys be out there hitting.” Dre Greenlaw said players on the field could respond to his hits only with “What the f—k?” Even coach Kyle Shanahan, with his business-first demeanor at the podium, couldn’t help but appreciate the streak.

“It’s pretty cool stat,” he later added. “It could be a coincidence, but we like to think not so we’ll take it that way.”

The next test of the streak being a coincidence comes Monday night, when the Rams play the Bengals eight days after losing to the 49ers.