For most of the past two months, the San Francisco 49ers have looked like a team careening toward their inevitable elimination from postseason contention.
While Sunday’s 41-33 loss to the Dallas Cowboys hasn’t yet taken the Niners to that conclusion, an Arizona win against Philadelphia would make their elimination from the playoffs official. But the harsh reality for the 49ers (5-9) is that even though the math says they have still been in the mix, they haven’t looked the part of a postseason team for many weeks.
Which is why Sunday’s loss to the lowly Cowboys was the best thing for the franchise moving forward.
Obviously, it’s never a good thing for a team to be eliminated from the postseason, and franchises rightfully bristle at the discussion centering on NFL draft positioning. But if the Niners are going to return to the postseason mix next season given all of their salary-cap constraints and the 40 players scheduled for some sort of free agency, they need all the help they can get.
With games remaining against the Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks, both of whom are in the thick of the playoff chase, there’s a real chance the Niners will finish 5-11. It’s a tough look for a team coming off an NFC championship, but it’s also one that is directly correlated to their overwhelming injury issues.
Considering the situation, it’s unlikely the 49ers will ask quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and tight end George Kittle to play again this season. Nor should they.
Now, it’s entirely possible the Niners could finish with a top-10 pick in the 2021 NFL draft, perhaps even top five if certain things break their way. That might mean a crack at a long-term franchise quarterback, another top edge rusher or a shutdown cornerback, all of which are obvious needs.
When Garoppolo missed most of 2018, the Niners’ season got away from them to the point where they landed end Nick Bosa, the player who made the biggest difference in helping them jump to contender status in 2019.
A hefty dose of improved injury luck and another impact player taken near the top of the draft could be just what the doctor ordered if the Niners are going to bounce back big in 2021.
QB Breakdown: Backup quarterback Nick Mullens‘ turnover issues continued in Dallas as he coughed up a fumble and threw a pair of costly interceptions late. For the eighth straight game, the Niners had two or more turnovers, which is the longest streak for the franchise since the 2008 team and longest current streak in the NFL. Mullens finished 21-of-36 for 219 yards with two touchdowns and those two picks for a passer rating of 71.4.
Troubling trend: Punt returner Richie James Jr. coughed up a fumble on Dallas’ first punt, a fumble the Cowboys recovered and promptly turned into the game’s first touchdown. It was San Francisco’s third lost fumble on a punt return this season, the most in the NFL and the first time they’ve lost that many in a year since 1996. Add returner to the team’s ever-growing list of offseason needs.