I know it’s hard for you to believe, 49ers fans, but there is a fan base out there who feels just as tortured as you right now.
That’s the New York Jets and it’s the reason Las Vegas is listing San Francisco as 2.5 favorites Sunday at Levi’s Stadium. Depressingly, they were also favored in last weeks 26-6 loss in Chicago.
I don’t care if the 49ers are ranked 32nd in total defense, 30th offense, have lost 11 games in a row and haven’t even led in the fourth quarter once during the skid. These are grown ass men. This has to be the week the 49ers finally come out and punch an opponent in the mouth. Veteran leaders and building block players — Torrey Smith, Ahmad Brooks, Antoine Bethea, Carlos Hyde — have got to get this team fired up to win a game for Chip Kelly after he buried his father on Tuesday.
We can have the same conversation about how this will hurt the 49ers’ draft position. You’ll say what’s the point of a meaningless December win?
Well, if you plan on bringing Kelly back — like what both Jay Glazer, Peter King and the rest of the world expect to happen — you don’t want to go into the offseason having lost 15 in a row. This football team has to stop the flooding before the offseason in January. Humans always are in need of boosts in morale or they will wane on their commitment — football players are no different. Winning a game is psychological validation that Kelly is a good football coach, and they should believe in what he says.
This is the perfect Sunday to finally feel good about yourself on a Monday.
The Jets (3-9) would honestly love to have Colin Kaepernick — at least he can make plays. New York has the worst team passer rating in the league (69.5) and will turn to Bryce Petty, a fourth round pick from 2015, for the rest of the season.
Sunday could be Kaepernick’s broadway audition, but is he really leaving for greener pastures? Darrelle Revis looks like a skeleton of his old self, Todd Bowles is no longer an untouchable defensive mastermind, Matt Forte and Brandon Marshall aren’t enough to build around longterm. New York’s plunge back into the basement of the AFC East was sobering. They have no quarterback, no direction on offense, no stars on defense outside of Leonard Wilkerson. Meanwhile, Buffalo and Miami have cobbled together strong seasons and look like they aren’t going anywhere.
This 49ers defense can’t let Petty, Matt Barkley and Drew Stanton to beat them all in the same season. The pass rush and the run defense have been a disaster but it’s on the secondary this week. Not one cornerback on San Francisco’s roster has an interception this season. Jimmie Ward, Rashard Robinson, Tramaine Brock — anybody has to make a football play. Please.
What’s the one thing we haven’t seen enough of with Kaepernick since his return? Throwing the football deep. How have other teams been beating the 49ers on defense? Throwing the football deep. Enough of this crap that the defense was taking the long ball away. Kelly needs to dial up a minimum of five passes 30 yards down the field. Air the football out — you have literally nothing to lose.
The 49ers should play aggressive football on Sunday. Fake punts, going for it on fourth down, flea flickers. Anything. The Jets are coming off of a short week Monday night and flying across the country. Pin them down early and force them to quit. Use the exact same game plan you did in Week 1 against the Rams if you have to, Chip.
Do anything to win this football game to end the Bay Area’s misery.