San Francisco 49ers vs. St. Louis Rams: Game Day Open Thread

The San Francisco 49ers are playing host to the St. Louis Rams to wrap up what has been a dreadful 2015 season for the squad.

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The San Francisco 49ers are closing out the 2015 season by hosting the St. Louis (for now) Rams. To say this isn’t the type of season Jed York and Trent Baalke imagined when they unceremoniously threw Jim Harbaugh with the trash last season would be a vast understatement. But, that’s what happens when you have a couple of guys who don’t know the game as well as a guy like Harbaugh try to tell him how it should be done.

Fans are restless, angry, and are demanding blood. As well they should. This season has been an abomination and though HC Jim Tomsula may well find his head on the chopping block on Black Monday, the blame for it goes straight to the top – the York/Baalke regime.

This isn’t to say that there isn’t plenty of blame to go around. There most certainly is. Colin Kaepernick – the former cornerstone and likely soon to be ex-49er – has had an abysmal year. You can go over the numbers with a fine tooth comb all day long – 144 of 244 (59 percent) for 1,615 yards, six touchdowns, and five interceptions – but it all adds up to the simple fact that Kaepernick lost confidence in himself and was nowhere near the same quarterback he was under Harbaugh’s tutelage.

Who’s to blame for Kaepernick’s failings this season? Most point to an offensive line that hasn’t been able to prevent opposing defenses from knocking the stuffing out of him. And that argument isn’t completely without merit – in eight starts this season, Kaepernick was sacked 28 times. Though that doesn’t completely illustrate the beating he was taking.

But given the fact that his replacement, Blaine Gabbert, has been sacked 24 times in seven starts, it’s hard to dispute the notion that there is something terribly wrong with San Francisco’s offensive line.

So where does the blame lie? Is it coaching? That’s probably part of it. But it’s also depth and San Francisco’s inability to replace injured or departed players. And that falls squarely on the shoulders of York and Baalke. The fact that they have done little to nothing to shore up an offensive line that has had their quarterbacks running for their lives and/or picking themselves up out of the dirt all season long speaks to a lack of planning, identifying problems, and finding solutions.

So now, the 49ers are limping into the 2015 season finale with a million different questions but seemingly zero answers. All of York’s bluster and bravado about holding him accountable for San Francisco’s shortcomings is nothing but that – bluster and bravado. How can fans truly hold him accountable? Other than not showing up for the games, of course. But can you fault the fans for wanting to show up and see the team they love? Of course not. So what is the option?

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Though Tomsula and his staff are likely going to take the brunt of the blame – and ultimately, the fall – for San Francisco’s lost season of utter discontent, they are simply scapegoats in this whole mess. No, Tomsula doesn’t really seem to have the chops to be an NFL head coach. But York and Baalke should have known that when they hired him. They were simply more interested in having somebody heading up the team who would do whatever they asked of him with a smile – you know, the antithesis of Harbaugh.

It’s York and Baalke who should bear the lion’s share of the blame for this dismal season and it’s those two who should be made to pay the price. In a just world, that’s what would happen. Sadly though, the world is not always just, and that’s likely not the way it’s going to play out.

San Francisco and the Rams have two of the league’s worst offenses. And their defenses aren’t much better. There really is little sense of how this game is going to go down. It could be a high powered offensive shootout. Or it could be a defensive battle – primarily because a couple of inept offenses are making it look that way.

42. 24. 51. Final. 13

Neither team has anything left to play for other than draft positioning. In that regard, the 4-11 49ers would seem to have more incentive to drop their twelfth game on the season since the Rams have a shot to go .500 and will likely be picking in the middle of the order.

Will the 49ers tank this game to better their draft board? Or will they put together a solid performance and beat their rivals? Will this be the last we see of Tomsula on the San Francisco sidelines? Or will the York/Baalke regime not want to admit to the fact that they made a mistake, wasted a year, and keep Tomsula on board?

Next: San Francisco 49ers Getting What They Paid For

How is everything going to play out? In your opinion, what are the biggest storylines heading into the offseason? What does San Francisco need to do to right their ship?

This is your place to call your shot. We’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the season that was and the future of the organization. So step up and speak out!

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