SANTA CLARA – Mike Singletary is like a tightrope walker who's gotten halfway across the high wire and stopped. He teeters to one side. The crowd below gasps. He leans hard to the other side. Another gasp.

He might fall!

Then again, he might regain his balance, tiptoe to the other side and – ta da! – stick his landing.

Which is to say, Singletary has reached the critical point in the season.

Having a 3-4 record after seven games isn't great. The 49ers have lost three in a row as well as their lead in the NFC West. But they've already played Arizona, Minnesota, Atlanta and Indianapolis, all of which made the playoffs last season. A look ahead finds only two more 2008 playoff teams, 1-6 Tennessee and Philadelphia. They also will get another shot at the division-leading Cardinals. The 49ers still control their destiny.

Furthermore, they are a better team than they were to start the season. That's hard to reconcile with their current skid, but it's true.

To this point, the 49ers' biggest weakness has been that they have been easy to defend. Wide receivers Isaac Bruce and Josh Morgan didn't scare anyone. Shaun Hill was limited as far as where he could deliver the ball. And the 49ers had a simplistic – and, as it turns out, flawed – notion that they could run over opponents whenever they needed a tough yard or two.

Singletary already has changed course on two of those three elements.

First, he installed Michael Crabtree as a starter almost as soon as the wide receiver arrived at team headquarters. No 49er has caught more passes than the rookie over the past two games, and he's only going to get better with every week.

Step two was bringing Alex Smith out of the bullpen. Singletary realized the offense was in a rut with Hill at the helm. Going with Smith was a gamble – how would he play after two years spent recovering from shoulder surgery? – but early on, Smith has shown signs of finally becoming the quarterback the 49ers hoped he'd be.

Step three? It's the toughest one because it involves Singletary changing his own mind-set. Singletary's strength is his focus, his ability to identify a goal and then march toward it no matter how many distractions swirl around his head.

The problem is that for seven games, the 49ers have been marching in the wrong direction. Much like the Germans in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," they've been digging in the wrong place.

Are Singletary and the 49ers capable of picking up and digging somewhere else? On Thursday, offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye said the team would consider using more three-receiver packages – which were wildly effective against the Texans and the Colts – as the season progressed.

But at the same time, he said it wouldn't happen quickly, and he gave all sorts of excuses – a quarterback who's played only six quarters this season, a rookie wideout who is still learning the playbook, an ever-changing offensive line – why it never could be a big part of the offense.

The 49ers' previous offensive coordinator, Mike Martz, was ambitious to the point of being reckless. Raye is the opposite. He is careful to the point of being fearful. When Raye speaks, he always seems to note the perils he sees looming down the road. His glass is half-empty.

Singletary needs to nudge him along.

Singletary's previous personnel moves suggest that he understands that standing pat is the biggest danger. The 49ers have stuck with a cautious offense for seven weeks, and it ranks 27th in the league.

The biggest folly would be not to change it at all.

Read Matthew Barrows' archives and blogs at www.sacbee.com/ sf49ers.