SEASON IN REVIEW
Niner Report|February/March 2021
Did somebody say Super Bowl hangover?
Craig Massei
SEASON IN REVIEW

The 49ers’ 2020 season was more like four months of perpetual start-and-stop-and-start-again agony that never really went away despite all the team’s valiant attempts to subvert it while trying to remain in playoff contention during one of the most challenging seasons for any team in NFL history.

San Francisco entered the season with realistic hopes and determined plans to defend its hard-earned 2019 NFC championship and this time go one step beyond. But the 49ers never really had a chance. Try as they might, bless their hearty souls, they just couldn’t overcome the continual waves of adversity that hit them throughout an injury and health-plagued season that was defined by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The 49ers slipped all the way from the NFC throne to the NFC West cellar, a first-to-last nosedive that saw them eliminated from playoff contention by Week 15 and their victory total decrease by seven wins from the season before.

While their defense remained among the NFL’s best, finishing ranked No. 5 in the league, their offense, and special teams took a decided turn toward mediocrity or worse. San Francisco finished ranked No. 15 in the NFL in total offense, its special team's units ranked No. 27 in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus, and the team’s minus-11 turnover differential ranked 31st in the league.

It all added up to a 6-10 finish just 11 months after the 49ers had come within minutes of winning Super Bowl LIV, not the kind of outcome anybody was expecting from a rising San Francisco team that appeared to be geared for another title run entering the season.

This story is from the February/March 2021 edition of Niner Report.

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This story is from the February/March 2021 edition of Niner Report.

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