SANTA CLARA – The 49ers will be fine.

I find.

Don't hold me to it.

That's because the Niners' season is four games old, but if we're being honest when it comes to the modern NFL, it's just getting started.

Given the way NFL teams train in the summer (if they practice at all) and their disdain for the exhibition schedule, September is practically the preseason in this league. It's a time to sort things out; find his identity.

And although the 49ers have had an up-and-down “preseason,” they're doing just fine at 2-2 after a 30-13 win over the Patriots on Sunday at Levi's Stadium.

Nothing ideal. Nothing grueling.

If you distort a baseball axiom, you can't win a division in September, but you can lose one.

And despite the gloom following the Niners' back-to-back losses in Weeks 2 and 3, there's a lot to celebrate with this team.

They finally found an identity:

This is Brock Purdy's team.

This is Fred Warner's team.

It doesn't take 25 years in the NFL to figure out that the quarterback and middle linebacker are important to the team's success – after all, they're the guys wearing the helmet speakers. But after four games, the 49ers can claim they have the best quarterback-Mike combination in the league.

This is a development – a promising one – in a season that has so far been characterized by noise and nonsense.