I had planned on this column being all about Colin Kaepernick’s return against the Buffalo Bills.
Instead, the football world was reminded of two things after a 45-16 loss to the Buffalo Bills: the 49ers are currently a pathetic franchise and it may take them several seasons to restore their image.
San Francisco (1-5) has proved they can play a competitive half of football so far in 2016. Scripted plays Chip Kelly comes up with work early on, and the defense is generally flying around to start a game. But eventually, the other team remembers it has better players who can score touchdowns, sack whoever the 49ers are playing at quarterback and smart veterans that pry on mental mistakes. The 49ers lose to more gifted football teams every week. It’s that simple.
Although it’s universally agreed they are better coached, the more the 49ers play, the more Kelly’s team looks worse than Jim Tomsula’s 2015 version. That’s such a scary thought. It’s still two weeks before Halloween, a reminder the bleeding is only beginning. It could take a few seasons of bottoming out to acquire enough talented players — and that’s if everything goes right.
While $43 million in cap space sits in a safe collecting dust, the 49ers continue to look like the NFL’s least talented team. The hit list is becoming unfathomable.
- After using back-to-back first round picks on defensive linemen Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner, the 49ers have the worst run defenses in the NFL, by far.
- In year one of a new regime, there’s a chance defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil doesn’t survive a second season in Santa Clara. Guess what that would mean? Another new defensive scheme for young players to struggle in. Continuity is the fastest way to rebuild in the NFL, but the 49ers might not have a choice in holding O’Neil accountable.
- GM Trent Baalke was quoted a few months back saying he likes the team’s depth at inside linebacker, hence why they didn’t draft one new linebacker. The middle of San Francisco’s defense is by far their biggest weakness. Your football decision-maker has an affinity for ignoring positions on the team.
- Eric Reid is the team’s best player on defense, and even he can’t consistently come out and perform at a high level on a weekly basis. The 2017 NFL Draft was supposed to be all about offense for the 49ers, but in reality, the defense is just as bad.
- All of this is without mentioning the quarterback and wide receiver position. And both QB and WR often produce boom or bust draftees — Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert are perfect examples. It’s very possible the 49ers could draft the wrong combination, setting themselves back even further.
Reality must be depressing for Kelly. There’s nothing from an X’s and O’s standpoint he can do to solve the 49ers’ boatload of problems. No amount of sleepovers in Santa Clara can overcome talent issues across the board. And that’s the scary proposition for owner Jed York: Kelly’s not on the hot seat, but why would he want to stay here for the long term? Is anybody going to blame him for jumping to LSU this offseason? Kelly has won the locker room over and established his culture, but will he have the patience for back-to-back 4-12 seasons? Can you imagine a third coaching search in three offseasons?
The NFL is supposed to be a league of parity, where teams who look bad on paper, like the 49ers, can somehow emerge from the basement. Had this team went 6-10 or 7-9 this season, they may not have been too far away from turning things around. This could not be further from the truth.
Who okayed Baalke to not add any quality football players to this roster in free agency? We speculated Chip Kelly stood by while Baalke capsized the boat in the offseason. Not only does this roster not have talent, they don’t have the proper depth, and it’s killing them every Sunday.
Kelly’s been exactly right all along: it doesn’t matter who plays quarterback for this football. Plug-in Drew Brees on and they still might be 1-5 on the season. The run defense is hitting new lows every week, and remember, this unit was terrible before the NaVorro Bowman injury. What’s preventing an opposing team from rushing for 400 yards later in the season?
We’re beating a dead horse each and every week we say Baalke has done irreparable harm to the San Francisco 49ers. Kaepernick included, this franchise looks like a totaled SMART car compared to the indestructible SUV it was in 2013.