San Francisco 49ers v. Seattle Seahawks Game Day Open Thread

By Kevin Saito | Jan 1, 2017

January 1, 2017; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers fans hold up a sign for owner Jed York before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi /

The San Francisco 49ers play their final game of the 2016 today when they play host to the Seattle Seahawks – come talk about the game and all things 49ers football here!

Thankfully. Mercifully. Team Turmoil, otherwise known as the San Francisco 49ers will take the field today, for the last time in the 2016 season. And it will very likely be the final time this 49ers squad plays for HC Chip Kelly and GM Trent Baalke – both reported to be on their way out the door.

But that is going to leave San Francisco facing another rebuild. And that begs the question – or at least, it should – is Jed York the right man to be spearheading it?

When Jim Harbaugh was still walking the sidelines, the 49ers looked like the gold standard of an organization many had always considered them to be. They were a good team. A very good team. Well coached and well stocked with impact players.

But then Trent Baalke assumed the GM’s duties in 2010 and the cupboards started to empty out really quickly. Baalke proved himself time and time again as a poor evaluator of talent – and often inexplicably drafted players coming off major injury. Players, who as it turned out, have never amounted to all that much in a 49ers uniform.

Baalke wasting draft picks was bad enough. But when he and York decided they weren’t getting enough of the credit for San Francisco’s three straight trips to the NFC titl game and a Super Bowl appearance, they engaged in a very public spat with Harbaugh that resulted in a “mutual decision” to part ways following the 2014 season.

And San Francisco hasn’t been the same since.

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To say this team spiraled after that Mean Girls episode between Harbaugh and the York/Baalke regime, San Francisco has absolutely cratered. They have a grand total of seven wins over the past two seasons, have become one of the worst teams in just about every statistical category – offensive and defensive – and the organization as a whole has looked like a mere shell of itself.

Thanks to York and Baalke, all traces of the greatness the 49ers were poised to achieve once again have been erased. Wiped out. Obliterated.

And it’s left York no choice but to wipe the slate clean and start again by jettisoning Baalke and the lastest scapegoat of a head coach in Chip Kelly – a man who shouldn’t have been hired to begin with, but a man who was set up to fail from the start. Or at the very least, not set up to have any sort of success whatsoever.

But now the question becomes – will York learn from his mistakes and help get this 49ers organization back on the right path? Or will he continue to let his ego ride shotgun and make all of the necessary and important decisions?

The answer to that question will determine San Francisco’s fate for a lot of years to come.

But for now, the 49ers will finish out the string against a pretty good Seahawks team – one that will very likely feast on a team that has nothing left to play for. With a head coach who’s got one foot in the grave and just two wins to their credit this season, it’s hard to imagine them mustering up the hutzpah to take down this Seattle team.

But stranger things have happened.

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What do you think? How do you see this all playing out? Will San Francisco muster up the gumption to snag a third win for their reportedly outgoing head coach? Or will they simply lay down and die for this Seahawks team?
How do you see the franchise moving forward? Will York get it right? Or will be continue down this self-gratifying, ego-stroking path he’s been on?

This is your place to talk about the game and all things 49ers football. We want to hear your thoughts and opinions, so step up, speak out, and be heard!