These aren’t the same 49ers from just a month or two ago. This team has fundamentally changed.

Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t the same quarterback who threw five consecutive interceptions during a training-camp practice — he has improved. And the defense isn’t the same group that intercepted him five times in a row, either. It has suffered major injuries.

The 49ers still have the NFC’s best record — they’re 11-2. And most analysts still expect the 49ers to at least reach the Super Bowl. Those things haven’t changed.

But the 49ers’ strengths and weaknesses have evolved in the following ways:

1. The 49ers suddenly have three quality wide receivers.

The first two months of the season, the starting wide receivers were Marquise Goodwin and Dante Pettis. Those two have combined to catch just 23 passes. Now, they’re both injured and no longer are part of the picture.

For months, the 49ers didn’t have a starting-caliber wide receiver. Their passing game was not Super Bowl-caliber. That’s why they traded a third-round pick to the Denver Broncos for Emmanuel Sanders at the trade deadline. The 49ers weren’t good enough without him.

“When Emmanuel got here, they were showing us we needed to step up as a receiver group,” Kendrick Bourne said. “It woke us up. I became more locked in. Someone giving you an extra push always works.”

After Sanders’ arrival, Bourne and rookie Deebo Samuel emerged as starting-caliber wide receivers. Now, the 49ers have three of them.

Since the trade deadline, Sanders has caught 28 passes for 407 yards and three touchdowns, Samuel has caught 32 passes for 472 yards and two touchdowns, and Bourne has caught 18 passes for 179 yards and five touchdowns. Suddenly, the 49ers have one of the league’s best wide-receiver trios.

What a difference from the first two months of the season.

2. Jimmy Garoppolo has gotten better.

He didn’t play well during training camp, and was inconsistent during the first half of the season. But he was coming off a torn ACL and hadn’t played football since October of 2018. He was rusty, didn’t step into all of his throws.

Now, he does.

“You take a year off with the ACL and everything, it takes a little while to get back into it,” Garoppolo explained.

He also has matured as a quarterback. During his first 18 starts with the 49ers, he threw 18 interceptions. But the past three games, he has thrown just one pick. He’s playing like a veteran who can lead his team to the Super Bowl.

“He has continued to make big throws, but has eliminated some of the turnovers, which I think is huge,” Head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Sometimes when guys make a bunch of big plays and turnovers, the only way to get them to eliminate the turnovers is to stop trying to make those big plays. I don’t think Jimmy has done that. No matter whether a good thing or a bad thing happens to him, he doesn’t overanalyze it and freak out about it. He just learns from it, files it in the bank and goes to the next week.”

3. The 49ers have a new lead running back.

He’s Raheem Mostert, and he’s good. Better than his predecessors.

Tevin Coleman was the 49ers’ lead running back earlier this season, and he played well in spurts. But the past four games, he has averaged just 2.1 yards per carry. He’s either tired or injured or both.

Matt Breida has been the 49ers’ lead running back at times the past two seasons, but he missed three games in November with an ankle injury and he gets injured often.

Mostert has fresh legs. He has been the 49ers’ third-string running back the past three seasons and, including his college career at Purdue, has carried the ball just 279 times since high school. This season, he’s averaging a whopping 6.0 yards per carry.

“We need to give him more opportunities,” Shanahan said. “He’s given us no choice. I mean, he’s been pretty damn good and he needs more opportunities because he’s making the best of it.”

The 49ers have given Mostert 29 carries the past two games. He’s a legitimate weapon the 49ers didn’t know they had.

4. The 49ers lost Weston Richburg for the season.

If the 49ers win the Super Bowl, they’ll have to win it without their starting center, Weston Richburg.

Richburg tore the patella tendon in his knee during Sunday’s 48-46 win over the New Orleans Saints and will miss the rest of the season. The 49ers placed him on injured reserve Wednesday.

“I thought Richburg played very well,” Shanahan said. “He was able to stay healthy throughout the year until this point. We were extremely appreciative of him this year.”

Richburg’s replacement, Ben Garland, has started only seven games during his six-year career.

“Replacing Richburg is a huge job,” Shanahan said. “Ben came in (against the Saints), and we did not miss a beat. He stepped it up, knew the game plan well and made a number of plays in the game that helped us.”

Garland is the offense’s biggest weakness, but he doesn’t seem so weak.

5. Die Offensive könnte besser sein als die Verteidigung.

Die Verteidigung ist nicht das, was sie noch vor ein paar Wochen war.

Start Nasenbeinbruch D.J. Jones könnte den Rest der Saison mit einer Knöchelverletzung verpassen. Defensive Ende Dee Ford wird Zeit mit einer Sehnenverletzung verpassen. Defensive Ende Ronald Blair ist auf IR mit einem zerrissenen ACL.

Linebacker Kwon Alexander ist auf IR mit einem gerissenen Brustmuskel. Starke Sicherheit Jaquiski Tartt hat ein Spiel mit gebrochenen Rippen verpasst und könnte mehr verpassen. Cornerback Richard Sherman könnte mit einer Sehnenverletzung die Zeit verpassen. Und Nickelback K'Waun Williams könnte die Zeit mit einer Gehirnerschütterung verpassen.

Was bedeutet, dass an diesem Sonntag gegen die Atlanta Falcons, die 49ers möglicherweise nicht sieben Schlüsselverteidiger, oder mehr als die Hälfte der Verteidigung.

San Francisco 49ers Trikot，"Wir sind hier in den letzten Wochen geknallt worden", sagte Shanahan. "Es ist ein bisschen ein Trickle-Down-Effekt mit den Jungs. Jungs Reps gehen viel mehr. Je mehr Jungs spielen, desto mehr werden sie müde."

Früher in dieser Saison hatten die 49ers eine Rotation von defensiven Linemen, und diese Rotation hielt die Spieler frisch und machte sie effektiver. Jeder defensive Lineman spielte in der Regel nicht mehr als 45 defensive Snaps.

Jetzt müssen Nick Bosa, DeForest Buckner und Arik Armstead manchmal mehr als 60 defensive Snaps in einem Spiel spielen. Sie sind immer noch gut, aber nicht ganz so dominant.

Letzten Monat schien es, als ob die Verteidigung die 49ers zum Super Bowl tragen musste. Nun, es scheint, dass die Straftat sie tragen muss. Was für ein Unterschied ein Monat macht.