We can compete with anyone and are peaking---we beat the Rams twice, Bengals, Eagles this year. We played the #1 seeds (Packers, Titans) and lost to them by a combined 5 points. Let's see how far we can go.
But with the Regular Season done, what are your thoughts?
These are mine:
MY OVERALL GRADE: B-
THE OFFSEASON and PLAN GOING INTO THE SEASON:
We went into the season, kind of writing off last season due to injuries. We went 13-3 in 2019 with a similar roster, though weaker/stronger in some areas I think the couple notable threads were these:
QUARTERBACK--- Was Jimmy really going to start the whole year? Would it be a distraction to have him as a "lame duck" QB? Would Shanahan really employ a two-QB situation, or have a lot of Trey Packages?
DEFENSIVE LINE --- How would Bosa look on his return? Would Kinlaw take a step forward? How's Dee Ford's health? Would signing a bunch of low-risk pass rushers really amount to much?
DEFENSIVE BACK --- Solid depth/competition at safety. Will we be okay without (aging) Richard Sherman? Will Verrett/Moseley be enough with K'Waun Williams as the nickelback and some rookies behind them?
NEW OFFENSIVE/DEFENSIVE COORDINATORS --- How will things look with Saleh and LaFleur heading to New York, and Demeco Ryans and Mike McDaniels as our new OC's and DC's?
THE RESULTS
QUARTERBACK:
--- There wasn't any locker room drama, demonstrating that Jimmy Garoppolo is a class act and our team has strong chemistry.
--- Jimmy Garoppolo showed off this season both why we love him, and also want to move on from him. He had some strong play, especially in the second half of the season. But he also suffered some injuries, and there were some very inconsistent games.
--- The two-QB system didn't really work too well, as Shanahan admittedly said he had trouble getting into a playcalling rhythm whenever there was a QB change.
--- Trey Lance was serviceable when he started, going 1-1 in his starts. He showed flashes of potential, but it'll be interesting to see how he looks with another offseason of development.
--- Overall, the plan was successful. We competed with Jimmy this year and made the playoffs. No locker room schism. We should be able to trade Jimmy in the offseason to a good home and transition to Trey Lance at QB in the offseason.
DEFENSIVE LINE:
--- Kinlaw was lost for the season. Dee Ford surprisingly played in some games early in the season, and then ended up being unavailable.
--- Bosa was our Defensive MVP. If not for Deebo, he would've been the team's best player this year.
--- Outside of Bosa, Pass rush was kind of okay in the beginning of the season, but then the defensive line really started to gel in the last half of the season.
DEFENSIVE BACK:
--- Losing Verrett to season-ending injury and Moseley missing a lot of times cost us in some very key moments. The Packers and Titans games probably would've looked different if we had stronger cornerback plays.
NEW OFFENSIVE/DEFENSIVE COORDINATORS:
--- On offense, I didn't notice huge drop-off, though Shanahan got a lot of flack this season for playcalling inconsistency. Understandable though due to injuries at RB and to Jimmy. I think he was really trying to use Trey Lance this season, and then discovered that defenses changed their looks when Trey came in. But largely, we were effective in the second half of the season.
--- On defense, Demeco Ryans had some rough moments, but surprisingly we finished in the top 5 and 10 in a lot of major defensive categories. It's amazing what he did despite the revolving door at CB.
UNFORESEEN DEVELOPMENTS
--- Deebo Samuel's Emergence: Very simply, he was our team's MVP this year. It was said that Shanahan pushed him during the offseason to work on his conditioning. You can tell Deebo worked really hard, because he was a FORCE this year.
--- Brandon Aiyuk's "Doghouse": This one made me laugh. During the first half of the season, Shanahan was straight-up and said nothing was really wrong... Aiyuk suffered some injuries, Sherfield was playing well, had confidence in him, but Aiyuk did need to keep working hard. And the media stirred the pot... but Aiyuk did exactly what Shanahan wanted... got healthy and worked hard. And he too emerged as the season went on.
--- Runningback Injuries: Let's never again take it for granted that we need to continue finding talented RB's. We thought the RB room was crowded in the offseason, and then suddenly we were finding guys off the street. Ultimately though... While it hurt us early season, Elijah Mitchell showing up was a pleasant surprise.
--- Special Teams: General statement, but our S/T feels really weak this year.
--- Robbie Gould / Mitch Wishnowski: I feel like Gould is still a good kicker, but no longer an elite kicker. Wishnowski seems like he's lost some leg strength. We should probably look to the future this offseason.
CONCLUSION:
I think this year was us trying to have our cake and eat it, in trying to compete this year and also build for the future. We invested multiple first-rounders to get Trey Lance and ran the risk of dividing the locker room between Jimmy/Trey. Ultimately, I think we did compete this year and also built for the future. We're not as strong as our 2019 team, but 10 wins despite all the injuries and peaking in November/December is a job well done, in my opinion.
For a moment, it seemed like things were going to fail when we lost 4 straight. But I think this year was ultimately an illustration that we do have a good front office, coaching staff, roster & locker room. The Yorks wanted to the 49ers to be a sustainable team that competes year in and year out, and if we can stay healthy... I think we can do that.
We turned it around and played very clutch during the stretch this year. Going into the playoffs, I see us maybe beating the Cowboys, but I don't anticipate a deep run. I honestly think the Aaron Rodgers' and Tom Bradys' will eventually pick apart our CB's... I'm hoping though that that clutch January/February defensive play comes out.
GO NINERS!
[ Edited by Wubbie on Jan 9, 2022 at 7:20 PM ]
