In his three previous seasons as 49ers head coach, Jim Harbaugh took his team to three conference championship games and a Super Bowl and transformed the long-dormant franchise into a consistent winner.
Now, after his first bad season, Harbaugh will by all accounts be coaching his final game for the team Sunday when the 7-8 Niners host the 11-4 Cardinals at Levi’s Stadium.
Can Harbaugh and his 49ers go out a winner, at least?
Oddsmakers seem to think so. They’ve made San Francisco a 4- to 6-point favorite for the game, despite the fact the 49ers lost their first meeting with Arizona 23-14 back in September -- an omen of things to come for a Niners team that was believed to have a shot at the Super Bowl.
But this Arizona team -- still fighting with the Seahawks for the NFC West championship -- will be going with a new starting quarterback, Ryan Lindley, after injuries to Drew Stanton (probably rested this Sunday with an ankle sprain) and Carson Palmer. The Arizona offense has been struggling lately, especially to score TDs. The Cards have been settling for field goals and haven’t recorded a touchdown over their past two games.
Arizona remains strong defensively, however, and is the No. 8 team in the NFL against the run. If the 49ers want to end this season on a high note, they’ll need to run the ball the way they did in their overtime loss to San Diego last week, when they rushed for more than 300 yards.
Frank Gore -- possibly playing his last game for the franchise -- needs just 38 yards for a fourth straight 1,000-yard season.
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But the big story going into this last game for the 49ers is Harbaugh.
How can a coach who’s been so successful be on his way out?
Harbaugh, however, may be the only person seemingly not concerned about it. He told the media this week that the only time he even considers it is when reporters ask him about it.
“The interesting thing is if you don’t look at the Internet and you don’t watch TV you really don’t know that it’s going on,” he said of all the speculation about his job. “That has been exactly what I have done.”
Yet that’s certainly not the case for 49ers fans, who will be watching with interest Sunday afternoon to see what the team can do in what appears to be its last game under Harbaugh.
It promises to be a very interesting offseason, beginning Monday. The next time the Niners take the field next September, it could be a very different team.
