The San Francisco 49ers lost back to back games to the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings despite being a much better team on paper. The 49ers have been faced with many problems this season but that doesn’t excuse these losses. One of the biggest problems for the 49ers has been their special teams. Their special teams cost them to lose their game against the Rams and set them up for failure against the Vikings. In a tied game with less than a minute to go the 49ers special teams let up a huge punt return that put the Rams in field goal range. Then against the Vikings C.J. Ham blocked the 49ers’ punt which was then returned to the 49ers’ 24-yard line.
Another problem with the 49ers has been the coaching. Kyle Shanahan and Nick Sorensen have made some poor play calls. He’s been more aggressive this season which means he’s taken more gambles. This doesn’t always pay off and instead of taking a short field goal Kyle had the offense run a pass play on fourth-and-2 that’d be broken up. This play should’ve been a run for Jordan Mason as he has been dominant in short run scenarios like this. Then against the Rams in the fourth quarter on a play that could’ve won the game Shanahan had Ronnie Bell on the field who would drop an open pass. After this drop, Nick Sorensen made multiple bad play calls, the main being in the final drive when Sorensen had defensive linemen De’Vondre Campbell in a linebacker position. This caused a defensive pass interference and put the Rams in field goal range, which would win them the game.
The 49ers have also dealt with a lot of injuries. The 49ers best player Christian McCraffrey has been out every game, he is expected to return November 10th. Linebacker Dre Greenlaw has also been out all season due to his injury in the Super Bowl. In the loss against the Rams receivers Deebo Samuel and George Kittle were out. Those are the 49ers main receivers and having both them out forces us to play deep bench players. One of these bench players being Ronnie Bell who’d drop a pass that would’ve won the 49ers the game.
Overall the 49ers have been underperforming but once the team is healthy and gets special teams under control, I don’t see why they shouldn’t have a great season.
