During their mighty run to the NFC championship last season, the 49ers steamrolled through a course heavy with obstacles before them, including a steady stream of injuries to key performers that ultimately saw San Francisco players miss a combined total of 147 games.
“We had a lot of guys miss a lot of time last year, and for the most part, even though we’d step back in places, other places stepped it up,” coach Kyle Shanahan said.
The 49ers are on a similar course of destruction this year, and their decimated roster is struggling to pick up the pieces like it did in 2019, when San Francisco somehow overcame all those injuries to reach Super Bowl LIV, a championship game it would have won if not for a late collapse.
As they hobble this year toward the end of October and into a November schedule stocked with playoff contenders, injuries have ravaged the 49ers literally at every positional unit. As a result, San Francisco labored through what was expected to be the easiest part of its schedule, losing each of its first three home games at Levi’s Stadium in matchups the 49ers were favored to win by seven points or more.
The season is on the brink. The 49ers never again will be at full strength in 2020, but key players will return in upcoming weeks and later down the stretch to try and keep San Francisco’s playoff hopes afloat.
Denne historien er fra November 2020-utgaven av Niner Report.
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Denne historien er fra November 2020-utgaven av Niner Report.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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EIGHT IS ENOUGH
Set 49ers lineup still has several new starters
Calling all cornerbacks
Loss of Verrett exposes 49ers’ thin depth at CB
Always finding their way to run
49ers system accomplished at developing homegrown talent
ANOTHER COMEBACK?
Resilient veteran Verrett to miss rest of season
TOP 10 Rookie running backs
THE BACK LIST
STOCK UP STOCK DOWN
DEOMMODORE LENOIR | AMBRY THOMAS
Will Mostert run for 49ers again?
Raheem Mostert was primed this year to be the centerpiece of one of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses, featured as the lead performer in San Francisco’s grinding rushing attack while making his climb among the league’s top running backs.
THE WONDER OF WARNER
49ers make All-Pro star highest-paid LB in NFL
Making the right choice at QB
In the weeks that follow after you read this — and perhaps sometime even sooner than that — Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the 49ers organization will make a titanic decision that will have present, future and perhaps even everlasting implications for the franchise. It will chart the course for the team’s pivotal 2021 season while determining whether San Francisco really does have the juice to return to powerhouse status and again be considered a legitimate contender to get back to the Super Bowl.
TOP 10 Linebacker seasons
Fred Warner vaulted to stardom with a spectacular 2020 season — and the 49ers rewarded him this summer with a $95.225 million deal that makes him the highest-paid inside linebacker in NFL history. By today’s standards, Warner’s performance last year was worth the money as he posted an Approximate Value of 19 — matching the highest score ever recorded by a San Francisco defender according to a Pro Football Reference formula that puts a single number on each player-season across all positions since 1960. Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman (twice) also had seasons with an AV of 19 as they dominate this list of the greatest individual seasons by a linebacker in 49ers history.
