At least after Sunday, the 49ers’ long, miserable season will be over.
Whether the 49ers lose to the Seahawks Sunday to finish 2-14 or pull off an upset to finish 3-13, the 2016 season will be a lost one for a franchise that has fallen from being one of the best in the NFC to the worst in less than four years.
The only thing on the line Sunday at Levi’s Stadium is a little bit of pride – Niners’ players would love to finish with two straight victories – and where the 49ers will pick at the top of the draft this coming spring. Right now, they’d draft second, behind the one-win Cleveland Browns. But a Browns victory over the Steelers and a 49ers loss could vault the 49ers into the No. 1 spot because of San Francisco’s weaker strength of schedule.
The 49ers came into the season with a truckload of question marks and leave it without answers. The team goes into Sunday’s game without the young wide receivers it hoped would grow this season, without standout inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman and running back Carlos Hyde and with quarterback Colin Kaepernick possibly playing his last game for the franchise. He’ll have the option of walking away after this season.
At this point, the only thing the 49ers are sure of is there will be some massive changes, in the front office, perhaps in the coaching staff and – of course – on a roster that needs a major upgrade.
Players will look around the locker room at the end of Sunday’s game and not know who’s coming back or what’s in store over the offseason.
“You never want to have a situation at the end of the year (where) your record kind of says there’s going to have to be some kind of changes and stuff,” veteran left tackle Joe Staley told reporters this week.
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Certainly, the 49ers are expected to go out with another loss. The Seahawks beat the 49ers 37-18 back in September and have won six straight over the 49ers, dating to December of 2013. The 49ers offense should have its hands full with a Seattle defense that allows just 17.9 points per game, the second-best mark in the NFL. Even without safety Earl Thomas – lost with a broken leg – the Seahawks have middle linebacker Bobby Wagner, who leads the NFL in tackles, and standout safety Kam Chancellor and cornerback Richard Sherman.
Though the 49ers have played a bit better on offense over the last quarter of the season, they still rank 29th in the league.
After leading his team to a win over the Rams last week, Kaepernick says he’d like to keep the positive vibes going. He’s not going to think about the offseason just yet. He has one more game to play.
“That’s where our focus is right now,” Kaepernick said. “That’s where all of our energy is going. We want to make sure we end this season right with a win and do everything this week to prepare for that.”
Oddsmakers have made the Seahawks 9 1/2-point favorites. The game is scheduled to start at 1:25 p.m.
