In many ways, it’s been shocking to see the San Francisco 49ers fall from grace, not to mention the subsequent tumble in the standings that’s come with it. Most NFL teams tend to cycle from good to bad and back on a regular basis, but John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have set a consistent standard of excellence.
But that standard is under attack, and it has been all year. It’s easy to blame the 49ers problems this year on injuries, and that’s exactly what happened through the first half of the season. It’s getting a lot harder to do that, though, especially after their brutal loss to the Rams in which linebacker De’Vondre Campbell refused to take the field and headed off to the locker room when he became the next man up after a third-quarter injury.
Deebo Samuel is leading the march of the malcontents for the San Francisco 49ers
The injury list was the focus early on, especially when some fuzzy reporting surfaced about star running back Christian McCaffrey, whose ankle tendonitis issues were initially disguised as a mild calf pull. But there were other problems, too, starting with some preseason contract struggles.
The 49ers were slow to reward receiver Brandon Aiyuk, whose rapport with Brock Purdy is an essential part of the San Francisco 49ers offense. Aiyuk decided to go public with his contract issues, and while he did get paid, he struggled early in the season before a knee injury took him out for the year.
San Francisco’s inability to get Trent Williams signed were even more telling. Williams is still widely recognized as the best left tackle in football, so getting him under contract should have been a no-brainer. Instead, the 49ers drew out the negotiations based on the fact that Williams is 36, and he, too, ended up going public, although that dispute was resolved more quickly.
But those contract issues turned out to be the tip of the iceberg when the injuries continued. Eventually the spotlight fell on star wideout Deebo Samuel, who expressed his frustration because he wasn’t getting the ball enough, then dropped a key early pass against LA that likely would have made a big difference in a typically slow, sluggish Thursday night contest.
Kyle Shanahan keeps his head buried in his play sheet
Coach Kyle Shanahan is on the hook for his fair share of the blame pie as well. As brilliant as Shanahan has been as an offensive tactician, he’s been known to throw his players under the bus every now and then when things aren’t going well. Now he seems to have run out of answers, which wouldn’t be an issue if the problems were simply about a bad luck year with injuries.
But there’s more to it than that. If you’re looking for a physical metaphor for what’s happened to the 49ers this year, look no further than Shanahan. He keeps his head buried in the play sheet regardless of how well things are going, which is fine when it comes to keeping an even keel.
When players start walking off the field, though, that’s a different level of dysfunction. Sideline squabbles happen all the time in the NFL, and usually they’re overblown. What happened with Campbell last night is a huge red flag that something deeper may be going on.
The questions about Kyle Shanahan are now legitimate
As a result, it’s now become fair to ask questions about Shanahan that haven’t been raised to date. Specifically, have players begun to tune him out? Has he lost the locker room? The level of finger-pointing we’re seeing in San Francisco is unprecedented, and given that Kyle Shanahan started his run with the team back in 2017, the possibility has to at least be considered.
The 49ers basically look like they’re playing out the string, which is especially painful given the ongoing mediocrity of the NFC West. The Seahawks seem to have taken control, but their next two opponents are the Packers and Vikings, which means the division could still stay winnable—provided the 49ers can get their house in order and start playing the kind of tough, consistent football that has been their trademark under Shanahan.