There’s only one option left for 49ers in 2020

Technically speaking, the 49ers can still make the NFC playoffs. They’re only two games back of the Arizona Cardinals — who seem to want to be 8-8 — with three games to play and one showdown between the division rivals still on the schedule.

But any rational person who watched the 49ers’ loss to the Washington Football Team on Sunday knows that they’re done. The 49ers know it, too.

Actually, with hindsight, I’d say that reality hit the team after their loss to Buffalo on “Monday Night Football.” Sunday’s loss to Washington was just reinforcement.

Battered, defeated, and sequestered in Glendale, Ariz. the 49ers still have three games to play. There’s only one thing for them to do now: Embrace the tank.

A few years ago, when the Niners were in a nottoodissimilar situation to the one they face now — without being sent to the desert, of course — Kyle Shanahan’s team went hard down the stretch, winning games in Weeks 14 and 15 to finish the season at 4-12, eliminating the chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

That was the right decision at the time, and I believe the football gods blessed the Niners when Arizona fell for Kyler Murray and San Francisco won the No. 2 overall pick on a coin flip, allowing them to take Nick Bosa at No. 2.

I am not advocating for the same move in 2020, though. The difference between that 2018 team and this 2020 team is stark. That earlier edition needed to learn how to win, and every opportunity to pick up a victory was important.

But this 2020 team? They know how to win. This time last year they were fighting for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. They played for the Super Bowl last season. This year, despite being decimated by injuries and having Nick Mullens as the team’s starting quarterback, they played meaningful games into December. The Niners’ bonafides are secure.

Shanahan and his team don’t have to prove that they can play with the big boys anymore. When healthy, they are the big boys.

So if they want, they can coast the rest of the way. I don’t think the football gods will smite them.

And if you don’t like teams rolling over, then I suggest you blame the NFL’s system.

To be successful in the modern game, you have to be successful in the draft. And to the Niners’ credit, they’ve aced their last three first-round picks. (Feel free to ignore the fact that they had some making up to do.)

Draft well and have a strong quarterback and the NFL system will make sure that you’re always in the hunt. And the higher you pick, of course, the easier it is to land the kind of talent that can make an immediate impact for your team.

Because the 49ers have been successful in the recent past, they have tough decisions to make this upcoming offseason. The prevailing sentiment at the moment is that the NFL salary cap is likely to stay flat. Meanwhile, the 49ers have — let me check my notes … ah, yes — all of the free agents.

San Francisco won’t be able to retain everyone from this year’s squad. That’s both a good and bad thing.

Retaining key players would be a bit easier — the Niners would have more salary-cap space — if they decide to move on from Jimmy Garoppolo, but changing quarterback is a massive decision. The difficulty of the 49ers’ offseason would be offset, at least a bit, by having a top10 or even top-5 draft pick.

Selecting in that range, the 49ers should be able to add an immediate impact player — perhaps even a quarterback. And while they’re multimillionaires before ever taking a sack, they would cost pennies on the dollar compared to veteran free agents of comparable on-field impact.

They might even get their quarterback of the future with that pick.

The Niners, of course, can be successful in 2021 without maximizing their draft position this month, but this season has been hard enough for San Francisco.

So cancel practice, go enjoy the Arizona sun, and let the practice squad play against the Cowboys on Sunday morning.

Fred Warner, who picked up a stinger in Sunday’s game, doesn’t need to see the field. His All-Pro status is cemented. Deebo Samuel should now have months to heal his latest hamstring injury.

And Garoppolo and George Kittle, who have been working to return from injury for the final few games of the season, should expand their rehabilitation windows, too.

It’d be malpractice to see any of them on the field in the final three games of the season. The goal, from here on out, should be to lose. Trust me, the Niners’ culture is strong enough to handle it.

Yes, the Niners need to take ‘er easy down the stretch. It’ll make their lives easier come 2021.