The San Francisco 49ers will go from disappointed NFC champions in Super Bowl 54 against the Chiefs to missing the playoffs in 2020. There's little doubt about that after their 2-3 start.
The 49ers have been a shell of a team with major injuries on both sides of the ball. Offensively, Jimmy Garoppolo still isn't right with the ankle injury that cost him two games. Raheem Mostert, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle also have missed games. Defensively, losing Nick Bosa to lead their pass rush stung, but then a rash of cornerback injuries followed Richard Sherman going on the shelf.
There are still 11 games left to turn things around, but, unfortunately, as the 49ers keep getting players other than Bosa back to health, they don't have the time to turn things around. The meat of the schedule ahead won't allow for it. The sobering reality of the 49ers' Super Bowl hangover is that they won't sneak back into the NFC postseason, even as a No. 7 seed.
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First consider the following about the 49ers' season so far:
All three losses are at home. The 49ers lost two games at home all of last season when they finished 13-3. They went into Week 5 having fallen to the Cardinals and the Eagles, and got throttled by the cross-country traveling Dolphins, 43-17.
Their two wins are on the road, both in New York. That's right, their resume is the least impressive for a non-winless team in the NFL in 2020, having beaten only the 0-5 Jets and the 0-5 Giants in MetLife Stadium.
Arizona, Philadelphia and Miami are mediocre teams at best with a lot of issues. San Francisco is doing its best to overcome its injuries, but is nothing resembling the loaded team with few weaknesses that Kyle Shanahan fielded last season. And that's even with rookie first-round picks Javon Kinlaw and Brandon Aiyuk looking like solid replacements for DeForest Bucker and Emmanuel Sanders.
Now get a load of the 49ers' upcoming schedule before their late Week 11 bye: vs. Rams (4-1), at Patriots (2-2), at Seahawks (5-0), vs. Packers (4-0), at Saints (2-2) After that bye, they play the Rams again and host the Bills (4-0).
There's a legitimate possibility of the 49ers experiencing a nine-game losing streak. At this point, the rest of the way, they might be favored in only more game all season, a Week 14 home date with the Washington Football Team.
This is crazy to fathom, but the 49ers have a better chance of finishing lower than their 4-12 mark of 2018 than finishing above .500 in 2020. San Francisco pretty much needs to accept this will be a lost season in their Super Bowl window for Shanahan and GM John Lynch.
After Garoppolo's injury and subsequent major struggles in his rushed return vs. Miami, there is a legitimate question of whether to err on the side of caution and shut him down at some point. Given that this is the second time his durability has affected his availability and effectiveness, there is also a developing question of whether the 49ers should commit to him beyond the final year of his contract in 2022, which also will be his age 30 season. That will only grow should the 49ers end up with a top-five draft pick for Lynch.
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Throwing away a season is difficult for any team, especially one with more aspirations of contention after coming so close to winning Super Bowl 54 over the Chiefs. You can bet the 49ers will show great fight as they get healthier and find ways to play spoiler in some of those games.
But then consider that their next seven opponents have a current combined record of 25-6, or a ridiculous winning percentage of .806. The injuries, odds and schedule are all stacked against the 49ers, especially with how well the Seahawks and Rams are playing. The Cardinals (3-2), who beat them, also are showing promise in the NFC West, arguably the NFL's toughest division vs. the AFC North.
Fate has the 49ers' number in 2020 and it's about to get a lot uglier.
