There are two teams that come to mind when being labeled the most disappointing teams of 2024. The first is the New York Jets, mainly because of the hype they had, but many forget that they are a dysfunctional franchise. The other team is the San Francisco 49ers who last year represented the NFC in the Super Bowl. Well, this season, the 49ers won’t make the Super Bowl, as they have been eliminated from the playoffs. Here are 3 main reasons why this occurred.
Down below is a list of notable names on the 49ers that dealt with injuries this season
QB Brock Purdy
OT Trent Williams
OT Ben Bartch
TE George Kittle
WR Brandon Aiyuk
WR Ricky Pearsall
WR Deebo Samuel
WR Jacob Cowing
WR Juan Jennings
WR Chris Conley
RB Christian McCaffery
RB Jordan Mason
RB Elijah Mitchell
OG Aaron Banks
OC Jon Feliciano
DT Javon Hargrave
DT Jordan Elliott
DT Kevin Givens
CB Ambury Thomas
CB Deommondre Lenoir
DE/EDGE Yeter Gross-Matos
DE/EDGE Nick Bosa
DE/EDGE Drake Jackson
S Talanoa Hufanga
S George Odum
LB Dre Greenlaw
LB Dee Winters
LB Curtis Robinson
P Mitch Wishnowsky
K Jake Mooney
That’s an insane number of injuries. It was the same thing that killed the 2021 San Francisco 49ers, where ironically, the season before they lost to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. History clearly struck twice for the 49ers.
Injuries are the main reason San Francisco didn’t make the playoffs this season. Looking back in the offseason, it was a tremendous mistake with the main focus being extending Brandon Aiyuk, instead of improving the team in free agency. The 49ers didn’t do enough to improve the team and besides some depth pieces, they didn’t so much. The only notable signing they made that has panned out was Leonard Floyd, who leads the team in sacks. The 2024 Draft class hasn’t impressed either. The offseason was a tremendous bust, as while they managed to extend Aiyuk, the whole team didn’t get better with other needed additions.
According to DVOA, the 49ers have one of the worst special teams units in the NFL, and there were rumors that special teams coordinator Brian Schneider was on the hot seat in the middle of the season. It also didn’t help that their punter, kicker, and multiple special teams returners went down with injuries and missed multiple games. This might save Brian Schneider’s job, but the coaching was lackluster with the 49ers. It needs to improve, because bad special teams play actually contributed to the 49ers missing the playoffs.
For a team that was in the Super Bowl last year to miss the playoffs this year, there is little to no bright spot, just disappointment. The lone bright spot for the 49ers is the signing of Leonard Floyd. As of December 28th, 2024 Floyd currently leads the 49ers with 8.5 sacks. The 2 year 20-million-dollar contract he signed has been a solid bargain for the 49ers and he should be a solid piece on this defense next season. Worse for Worse, Floyd could be used to acquire more draft capital to help bolster the team. Overall, Floyd was a bright spot for a dismal season.
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