Last stretch for 49ers to defend their NFC crown
49ers have a 26% chance of making postseason even after loss to Buffalo
The 49ers will likely live out their December days in Arizona — aside from a quick detour to Dallas for a Dec. 20 game — and then retreat into their greatest roster shakeup since 2017.
Coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch, who rebuilt the 49ers into a Super Bowl runner-up, are running out of time, and players, and games to save this injury-ravaged, stadiumhopping season.
No doubt, the 49ers failed to look or play Monday night like a team capable of winning out in a last-gasp shot at defending its NFC crown.
Surviving without Jimmy Garoppolo and George Kittle proved possible for a game or two, but not this much.
Overachieving on defense without Nick Bosa, Dee Ford and any semblance of last year’s pass rush proved admirable this season, until Josh Allen scorched the Niners with 375 yards and four touchdowns.
The Bills’ first win since 1999 on the “Monday Night Football” stage came in 34-24 fashion to further skin the 49ers’ playoff hopes.
It shouldn’t have been shocking, not after the 49ers’ home address changed last week to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ari
zona, which is what happens when your home county (Santa Clara) bans contact sports amid a pandemic.
But because the Bills are an AFC foe, that nonconference defeat might not be as detrimental as it was humbling. Of course, that would require the 49ers to somehow reach the tiebreaker stage in the NFC wild-card race, to which a third spot has been added for this postseason. They still have a 26 percent chance at the playoffs, per FiveThirtyEight ( had they won Monday night, the odds would have climbed above 50 percent).
Resignation was not evident among Shanahan nor the seven players who spoke to reporters via postgame video conference. Instead, the must-win, onegame-at-a-time automatic responses were engaged.
Here is why (if you look through Kittle’s most rosecolored of glasses):
The final four
SUNDAY, VS. WASHINGTON (5-7) AT STATE FARM STADIUM » Originally advertised as a chance to regale Alex Smith’s sure-fire Comeback Player of the Year award, the 49ers must rally to face a Washington team that Monday afternoon overcame the previously unbeaten Steelers in Pittsburgh. Washington first-year coach Ron Rivera may lack offensive firepower for Smith but that, ahem, Football Team
has a tremendous defensive front. Washington has not allowed more than 17 points in any of its three straight wins.
DEC. 20 AT DALLAS COWBOYS (3-8) » Beating Washington will give the 49ers renewed confidence that they can at least conquer the NFC East (glaring exception: Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles). No team has underachieved more than Dallas, all due respect to Dak Prescott’s premature exit to injury. Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy and defensive coordinator Mike Nolan are 15 years removed from going 4-12 on the 49ers’ staff together. DEC. 26 AT ARIZONA CARDINALS (6- 6) » This is technically a Cardinals home game on the 49ers’ adopted field. Arizona has lost three straight, and it’s yielded 30 points per game in dropping four of its past five. That wasn’t anticipated after Kyler Murray sparked a season-opening comeback over the 49ers in Santa Clara. Good thing this is a road game: The 49ers are 1-5 in “home” games.
• JAN. 3 VS. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (8- 4) » The location is TBA because it technically could be in Santa Clara if COVID-19 directives are eased, but it almost surely will be in Arizona, where the Seahawks lost to the Cardinals in overtime Oct. 25, showing cracks in their armor. Seattle is 3- 4 after a 5- 0 start, but it still has Russell Wilson, D. K. Metcalf, Tyler Lockett — and the 49ers defense (see: 37-27 Seattle home win).