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The San Francisco 49ers let another game get away on Sunday to drop to 5-5 on the season. Kyle Shanahan and company completed the trifecta of heartbreaking losses against each of their division rivals with a last-second 20-17 loss against the Seattle Seahawks.
With the loss, the 49ers are now one game back of the Arizona Cardinals for the top spot in the NFC West and are in a three-way tie for second place with the Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams. For the 49ers, that feels like a bit of a missed opportunity considering how many winnable games they have let slip away.
Dropping that many close division games puts the 49ers in rare air in the NFL, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN.
“According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 49ers have three divisional losses when leading in the final two minutes of regulation, which is tied for the most such losses by a team in a season since the 1970 merger,” Wagoner wrote. “San Francisco's three late-game letdowns have come in just four chances, and the Niners are tied with the 2001 Carolina Panthers, 2000 Los Angeles Chargers, 1996 Baltimore Ravens and 1994 Washington Commanders as the only teams to have that many defeats in those situations on the résumé.”
Those three games, which have been defined by poor kicking, bad turnovers and special teams blunders, could potentially cost the 49ers a chance at winning the division and making the playoffs. If they do, it will be a massive disappointment for a team with Super Bowl expectations.
49ers offense missing something in 2024
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The 49ers have become known for being one of the most explosive, high-flying offenses in the NFL under Kyle Shanahan. In 2024, this unit hasn't felt lie the same group of inevitable world-beaters like usual.
Injuries certainly play a large part in that. The 49ers just got Christian McCaffrey back and all of the top pass catchers on the team have been in and out of the lineup. Brandon Aiyuk is out, Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings have missed time, and George Kittle didn't play on Sunday.
Brock Purdy has played well and has carried the offense at times this season, but this unit doesn't have the explosive element that it has thrived on in past years. McCaffrey doesn't seem to have the same burst as he did before his injury and Samuel is also not creating any of those plays. There's a chance McCaffrey gets that back as the weeks go on, but that might be the 49ers' only hope at regaining that dangerous element to their offense.
The schedule isn't doing Shanahan and his guys any favors. Most of their remaining games are going to be tight affairs, with matchups against the Packers, Rams, Cardinals, Bills and Lions. If the likely goal to reach the postseason is 10 wins, the 49ers have a lot of work to do in order to get there.
