San Francisco 49ers Running Out Of Chances To Avoid Dubious Distinction

SANTA CLARA, CA - NOVEMBER 05: Marquise Goodwin
SANTA CLARA, CA - NOVEMBER 05: Marquise Goodwin /
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The San Francisco 49ers, owners of a record that currently stands at 0-9, are fast running out of chances to avoid a rather dubious distinction.

Coming into the years, the San Francisco 49ers and their fanbase knew it wasn’t going to be a banner year. With a new GM in John Lynch, a new HC in Kyle Shanahan, a dearth of talent, and a roster that has been almost entirely turned over, most figured wins were going to be a little tough to come by in 2017.

That being said, it seems relatively safe to say that nobody really envisioned this 49ers team going 0-16 on the year being a real possibility. And yet, here we are. 0-9, staring 0-10 in the face.

The New York Giants (1-7) are in town for a week ten tilt, probably representing one of the last chances this 49ers team has to avoid going winless in 2017. Realistically speaking, the game with the Giants is one of the few winnable games left on the schedule.

New York is a hot mess, with reports that HC Ben McAdoo has lost his locker room coming from every possible direction and dissension in the ranks – not to mention, they’re a team that has played incredibly poorly this season – the Giants seem ripe for the picking.

The Giants are a dumpster fire and chaos is reigning in their locker room and the front office. They seem to be a ruderless ship, adrift on the high seas of the NFL with no real plan or direction moving forward.

Simply put, if the 49ers can’t beat this Giants squad, they very well may join the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only two NFL franchises to ever go 0-16 in a season.

A quick look at their upcoming schedule doesn’t provide a lot of hope for W’s to close out the year. After the Giants, the 49ers will get to catch their breath with a bye week. After that though, they’ll take on Seattle, travel to Chicago and then Houston, host Jacksonville and Tennessee before closing out the year with a game in LA against the Rams.

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It’s not exactly a Murderer’s Row, but looking at what they have left for the year, the only team this 49ers squad may be able to beat is Houston. And that, likely only because of Deshaun Watson‘s catastrophic, season-ending injury.

Of the others, Seattle, Jacksonville, Tennessee, and the Rams, are all playoff contenders and are demonstrably better on both sides of the ball than this current 49ers unit.

But, the Giants are a team, even with all of the injuries and deficiencies that have hobbled this 49ers squad, is a game they can win. Early season favorites to make some noise in the NFC East, these Giants have suffered almost as many injuries as San Francisco, and have fallen flat on their faces.

Not even the defense, which was supposed to be a strength of this team, has been able to keep the Giants in games this year.

Currently, New York is twenty-eighth against the run. Which, given the presence of Carlos Hyde and what still has the potential to be a potent running game, seems to play into San Francisco’s hands. Hyde and Matt Breida should find plenty of room to run and keep the chains moving.

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And if the offensive line can manage to keep C.J. Beathard upright, not running for his life, and give him a little time, the Giants rank twenty-ninth against the pass. And with a talented receiving corps led by Pierre Garcon, the 49ers could potentially put up some points.

And given that the Giants score just 16 points a game, the 49ers just need to be competent on defense. The Giants don’t have many guys who can run or catch the ball particularly effectively, so they don’t need be the second coming of the Ray Lewis-led Ravens. They just need to be passably competent.

And against a defense that ranks thirtieth in the league overall, it might be a good idea for a 49ers offense, that isn’t totally devoid of weapons, to score more than their usual 16 points as well.

With half the season gone, and the team not having recorded a single win, it would be easy to be demoralized and just roll over. But, if this team has a scrap of pride left, they’ll find a way to head into their bye week riding that win.

And with new addition Jimmy Garoppolo likely taking the controls coming out of the bye, that one win can at least give the 49ers something to build on, moving forward.

This won’t be a playoff year for San Francisco, obviously. But, nobody wants to see it be a winless year, either. Which means the 49ers need to get right against the Giants, because they are fast running out of chances to dodge that bullet.