Things Have Somehow Gotten Worse for the San Francisco 49ers
The 2020 NFL season certainly hasn’t been what the San Francisco 49ers were hoping for. Coming off a Super Bowl appearance, the Niners were expected to once again compete for an NFC West title and perhaps make another run at a championship. But that’s just not going to happen. The 49ers are currently in last place at 4-4 and the only reason they’re even at the .500 mark is because they’ve played a very weak schedule thus far.
The Niners have had to deal with an insane number of injuries to key players on both offense and defense and things have somehow gotten even worse heading into Thursday night’s matchup with the Green Bay Packers.
The 49ers’ record is a bit misleading
With all of the injuries the San Francisco 49ers have had to deal with this year, which we’ll get to in a moment, it almost seems like a small miracle that the team has been able to notch four victories. But if you look at who they’ve played, the 4-4 mark is a bit misleading.
After a Week 1 division loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the 49ers scored two consecutive victories on the road, which is never a bad thing. But those wins came against the Jets and Giants, who have a combined record of 1-15. Sure, the Niners took care of business when they were supposed to but it’s really nothing to get excited about.
The Niners then lost to the Eagles, who hadn’t won a game all year, and then got torched by the Miami Dolphins. The Week 6 win against the Rams was impressive but the Rams’ record is misleading in itself as four of their five wins have come against the NFC East. The Niners whipped the Patriots in Week 7 (we all know that the Pats aren’t the same this year) but then got dismantled by the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
Injuries have played a major part in the Niners’ season
Injuries have obviously played a major part in the San Francisco 49ers’ 2020 campaign. And it’s not been the low-level guys. These are big-name players that have been on the shelf.
Richard Sherman has been on injured reserve since Week 1 with a calf strain. Pro Bowl defensive end Nick Bosa tore his ACL in Week 2 and is out for the year. Former Pro Bowler Dee Ford has dealt with back and neck injuries and remains on injured reserve. Former All-Pro Ezekiel Ansah is out for the year after suffering a torn biceps. And that’s just the defensive side of the football and isn’t even the whole list. Things look even worse on offense.
After missing two games earlier in the season with a high ankle sprain, Jimmy Garoppolo will now miss at least six weeks as he deals with the same injury. Tight end George Kittle is out at least eight weeks and may miss the rest of the year after breaking a bone in his foot this past Sunday against the Seahawks.
Running back Raheem Mostert, who already missed time earlier in the year with a sprained ACL, is back on the shelf with an ankle injury. Jeff Wilson Jr., who scored three touchdowns against New England, is out. Jordan Reed has been out. Again, the list goes on and on.
But things have gotten even worse for the 49ers.
The 49ers will not have one offensive player who touched the ball in the NFC Championship against the Packers
Following the announcement that Jimmy Garoppolo and George Kittle would both miss significant time, the 49ers then announced on Tuesday that wideout Deebo Samuel, who didn’t even make his season debut until Week 4, will miss at least a couple of weeks with a hamstring injury. But it doesn’t end there.
The 49ers also announced on Tuesday that running back Tevin Coleman, who returned to the lineup this past Sunday after missing the previous five games, is out for this week’s matchup with the Packers after re-injuring his knee against Seattle. To make matters even worse, it was reported on Wednesday that wide receiver Kendrick Bourne has tested positive for COVID-19, which caused the 49ers to shut down their practice facility.
As of this writing, the 49ers’ game with Green Bay is still on. But with Bourne now out, San Francisco will not have one offensive player on the field who touched the ball in the Niners’ NFC Championship Game victory over the Packers back in January, which seems right on par with how things have gone for the 49ers this season.
