What happened to the 49ers?

A year ago, the 49ers were the cream of the crop in the NFL.

They had beaten some of the toughest teams in the league, and at one point, had the toughest three games stretch in the 100 year history of the NFL, and came out with a 2-1.

This is a football team that was less than ten minutes away from winning their first Super Bowl since the 1994 season, and now, just nine months later, the 49ers are a complete wreck.

On Sunday, the bottom finally fell out following a 43-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins at home, where they remain win-less in the 2020 season.

The 49ers are a mess, plain and simple.  And it’s everybody, not just the defense, who is missing three starters on the line and four defensive backs, it’s also the offense, who has regressed, specifically the play of the offensive line.

Through five games, the 49ers have also played every single quarterback on their current roster- Jimmy Garoppolo, Nick Mullens, and CJ Beathard.

Deebo Samuel is back from injury, and has been invisible through two games, the offense seems flat, the defense is basically a practice team with all the injuries, and the 49ers have brought back memories of the Nolan, Tomsula, and early Shanahan years, my goodness what the hell happened to the 49ers?

Nick Bosa- out, Dee Ford- out, Solomon Thomas- out, Richard Sherman- out, Emmanuel Mosely- out, K’Waun Williams- out, Weston Richburg- out, Telvin Coleman- out, Jordan Reed- out, you cannot make this stuff up. Former 2nd round pick Dante Pettis is basically a wasted roster spot on the 49ers, who for whatever reason have kept him around despite seeing about as much playing time as me. Honestly, the 49ers would be doing themselves and Pettis a favor by cutting him, and letting him try to make it with another team than to sit and rot on the bench in San Francisco.

And Nick Mullens went from starter and the backup QB, to third string, don’t bother dressing out on Sunday, while CJ Beathard, is now entrenched as the backup after holding a clipboard for almost two full seasons.

So here it is, the 49ers are 2-3, and look like garbage, because they’ve played like that against some teams that honestly aren’t very good.  The combined records of their first five opponents are 5-14 (pending the Giants-Cowboys game).  Meanwhile, their next seven opponents? Try the Rams twice, Seahawks, Packers, Patriots, Bills, and Saints.  Hu? What?

Yeah exactly.

This season is pretty much over, because they’ll be lucky to get one win during that brutal stretch right there.

And then the questions will come up again, “What the hell happened to the 49ers?”  We know that during the Harbaugh era, there was talk about how the 49ers kept getting rid of high character players, and a guy like Anthony Dixon come to mind- good football players but better locker room guys.  I cannot help but think that the moment the 49ers got rid of DeForest Buckner, this roller coaster downhill started.

Buckner was a leader, no, correction, Buckner was THE leader on the defensive line which took the 49ers to the Super Bowl, and were a split second off from getting to Patrick Mahomes on that 3rd-and-14 pass in the 4th quarter.

For all the praise that Shanahan and GM John Lynch have received, their draft picks and free agent signings also have to be questioned.  Like passing on Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes for Solomon Thomas.  Or not signing one single free agent corner back to help out a thin and obvious Achilles heel in the defense, so now, with all the injuries, you end up with a practice squad CB in Brian Allen, who on one drive alone on Sunday, got burned for a 1st down, got called for a Pass Interference, and then got burned for a touchdown on 3rd and goal from the 22-yard line.

Oh and the icing on the cake?  Try back-to-back Garoppolo interceptions before halftime, allowing for two field goals to push Miami out to a 30-7 halftime lead.

Yup, that’s been the 49ers season in a nutshell.

They are such a complete train wreck right now, that last season seems like years ago.  For all the thought that this team “was built for the long run“, it’s been nothing short of tragic, in the sport sense of the word for the 49ers.

A long season just got even longer, and what’s even worse, the 49ers still have several prime-time games coming up on TV, starting with next Sunday’s match-up against the Rams.

As a Niners fan, of course I’m watching, but as a football fan, it could get very ugly, very fast- which for this year’s 49ers, is nothing new.