San Francisco spent the week answering questions about a slow start to the season before sending its strongest message to doubters on the field Thursday.

San Francisco has Super Bowl aspirations. In the era of the 14-team playoff where only the No. 1 seed gets a bye week, that No. 1 seed is crucial. The advanced age of the 49ers’ roster and the spate of extra games they’ve played over the last five years because of four deep playoff runs makes the bye week an even greater necessity.

The replays shown on Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football broadcast clearly showed the ball make contact with the returner's hand. But after reviewing the footage, referees let the call on the field stand. NFL VP of instant replay Mark Butterworth admitted the mistake with an explanation postgame.