Some teams win because everything aligns just right, but the San Francisco 49ers are 4-0 even though very little has gone their way.

The injuries are well known by now. What's more interesting is how San Francisco keeps winning without the players it planned around.

This team wins with a quarterback who doesn't panic, a coach who keeps finding answers, and a habit of making the big play right when the game is on the line.

It starts with Brock Purdy. Purdy won the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for September, and it was deserved.

Against Arizona, with his receiving corps short-handed, he threw for 297 yards and four touchdowns without an interception. Purdy doesn't need a full set of receivers to run this offense. He just needs someone open, and Kyle Shanahan keeps getting him one.

That brings us to Shanahan, who has called plays like someone with nothing to lose. Facing third-and-12 deep in his own territory against the Cardinals, he called a hook-and-ladder that turned into an 82-yard touchdown.

It was a bold call, and it says a lot about this team. The 49ers aren't just trying to survive their injuries. They're still playing to win.

The offensive line deserves just as much credit. Purdy hasn't been sacked once through four games, and against Denver, the same group helped the 49ers rush for 140 yards.

A team that protects its quarterback and runs the ball well can stay in any game, and so far, it has controlled most of them.

What really separates this team is how it finishes. Good teams win comfortably. Great teams also win the close, ugly games. When Arizona tried to come back in Week 3, Deebo Samuel recovered an onside kick to end it.

On Sunday, Denver had cut the lead to 17-14 late. On the next drive, Purdy beat a blitz with a screen to George Kittle, who ran 56 yards untouched for the touchdown that put the game away. In both games, the 49ers had an answer.

The defense has also come through when it had to. After a rough outing against Arizona, it shut down

Denver's run game left Bo Nix with few open throws until the fourth quarter. It did that without Nick Bosa, which shows the defense has more depth than people gave it credit for.

Put it together, and the 49ers have done more than collect wins. They blew out the Rams 27-7 and the Dolphins 35-13, won a shootout with Arizona, and won a tough defensive game against Denver.

That covers just about every kind of game a team can play, and they've won them all.

That's the sign of a real contender. It's a team that doesn't need everything to go right because it has shown it can win when things go wrong.

San Francisco travels to Seattle on October 11 for its first real road test in the division. With how this team has played so far, betting against it seems like a mistake.