Say it ain’t so.
A contingent of 80 ESPN personalities, writers and editors voted the 49ers the worst team in the NFL. Here’s their blurb on San Francisco:
Blaine Gabbert is 8-27 in his career as a starting quarterback and has the worst completion percentage and Total QBR since he entered the NFL. He is currently in contention for the 49ers’ starting job. That’s … not good.
Oh, have the mighty have fallen. The rest of the NFL understands that unless you have a world-class defense, the quarterback position dictates success. Trent Baalke doesn’t, apparently, or at least didn’t even attempt to upgrade the position. The 49ers rapid demise from contender to basement dweller is unprecedented. The other teams sitting above the 49ers are used to be the worst teams in the league.
31) Cleveland Browns — They are coming off a 3-13 season, stunningly their worst record since 2000. They actually believe Robert Griffin III is going to be a solid quarterback to build around. They have a first-year GM who used to be the team’s lawyer and a head coach who earned his reputation starring in Hard Knocks. When you see the Browns ahead of you on a preseason power poll, it’s the ultimate karate kick to the stomach. Cleveland hasn’t made the playoffs since 2002.
30) Tennessee Titans — They fired their competent head coach (Ken Whisenhunt) four games into his second season in 2015. That’s negligent management at any business in this country. Tennessee replaced him with a flimsy interim coach (Mike Mularkey) and then somehow kept him when other offensive minded guys would have loved to come work with Marcus Mariota. They have no idea what they are doing, have zero defensive talent outside of Jurell Casey, and still check in ahead of the 49ers. The Titans haven’t made the playoffs since 2008.
29) Los Angeles Rams — This is pretty disrespectful to a team with perhaps the best defensive line in the NFC. Maybe it’s more of a slap at Jeff Fisher’s reputation, but in fairness, he always get his teams to finish 7-9. The Rams haven’t been to the playoffs since 2004.
28) San Diego Chargers — This an anomaly of a franchise stuck in purgatory. It would feel really weird without a team in San Diego, but the Chargers ownership situation is as bad as it gets. They refuse to build a new stadium (which would host Super Bowls all the time) and remember, they fired Marty Schottenheimer after a 14-2 season. The NFL is going to give them a bail out card to Los Angeles, but the Spanos family does not deserve and NFL franchise if they are going to run it this poorly.
27) Detroit Lions — The Lions are so unlucky, the one year they had the No. 1 overall pick and needed a quarterback, the guy turned out to be a worse version of Jay Cutler. Matthew Stafford has two playoff appearances since 2011, but they were both one and done Wild Card stops. Calvin Johnson became so sick of the losing, he decided to hand up his cleats at 30 years old.
Get used to it 49ers fans. Your team is now grouped with the Browns, Titans, Rams, Chargers and Lions.
Here’s the full rankings
- Seahawks
- Cardinals
- Patriots
- Packers
- Panthers
- Steelers
- Bengals
- Broncos
- Chiefs
- Vikings
- Raiders
- Ravens
- Cowboys
- Colts
- Jets
- Texans
- Giants
- Redskins
- Falcons
- Jaguars
- Bears
- Saints
- Buccaneers
- Bills
- Eagles
- Dolphins
- Lions
- Chargers
- Rams
- Titans
- Browns
- 49ers