Jerry Rice explains what the 49ers need to do to ‘make a run’

Hall of Fame wide receiver, the greatest to ever play, Jerry Rice, joined NFL Network's "NFL Now" on Tuesday morning and discussed his former team, the San Francisco 49ers.

The Niners are 3-0 and coming off of a bye week. They will host the Cleveland Browns on Monday night at Levi's Stadium and look to go 4-0 for the first time since 1990.

Andrew Siciliano asked Rice if this 49ers team is the real deal.

Rice liked San Francisco's ability to overcome five turnovers against the Pittsburgh Steelers and still emerge with the victory.

Despite the 49ers' undefeated status, there are many who still doubt the team can be a contender this season. Rice sounds confident the Niners can prove themselves by cleaning up their mistakes and noted some other things that will help San Francisco down the stretch.

"They've got to protect the football, they've got to keep Jimmy [Garoppolo] healthy," Rice told Siciliano. "With the wide receivers, they've got to continue to make plays. They've still got to be able to run the football. If they can do that, I feel like they're going to be legitimate and make a run."

So basically, the Hall of Fame receiver is saying what everyone else has noted. The 49ers have played far from perfect football during the first quarter of the season. Still, they are 3-0. With tougher opponents coming up, those mistakes need to be corrected because the better teams are more likely to take advantage of them.

Although, it is worth noting that two of the 49ers' first three opponents, the Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, had big wins during Week 4.