The Story of the 2015 San Francisco 49ers

(photo credit: endzonescore.com)

The San Francisco 49ers entered the 2015 NFL season after an offseason marked by turnover, tumult, and tension. Coaches and rostered players alike could not exit the Santa Clara premises fast enough, setting the stage for a treacherous, but not-unexpected, last-place finish in the NFC West.

In a division featuring two of the top teams in the conference, and the entire league for that matter, San Francisco found themselves facing a major uphill climb. They dropped both matchups with the Seattle Seahawks. They also failed to gain a victory against the Arizona Cardinals. The 49ers were able to stave off going winless in the division by edging past the St. Louis Rams in overtime of the last game of the season.

“The 49ers know they can contend with Colin Kaepernick at quarterback -- if they have a strong ground game and a top-five defense,” said a preview on ESPN. Kaepernick ended up on injured reserve after a 2-6 record through eight games, choosing to cut the season short by having surgery on his injured left shoulder. The ground game? No better than 20th in the league in the major rushing categories, including rushing attempts (23rd), yards (21st), touchdowns (24th), and yards per attempt (20th). The defense was of little help. That unit gave up the fourth-most rushing yards and sixth-most passing yards, combining to allow the fourth-most total yards of offense in the entire league. “Top-five” it most definitely was not.

What causes such a drastic decline? Losing the head coach is a good start. With a combined regular season record of 36-11-1 in his first three seasons, Jim Harbaugh led the 49ers to a Super Bowl and two other conference championship games. But Harbaugh has a history of quickly wearing out his welcome, and an 8-8 record in 2014 just wasn’t enough to justify keeping his antics around.

He was replaced by Jim Tomsula, who had been the defensive line coach for the previous eight seasons. Additionally, offensive coordinator Greg Roman departed for the same position at Buffalo. Overhauling two of the top three coaching positions is enough to send any team through a tailspin.

Then there’s the list of players missing on the roster from 2014 to 2015:

-Mike Iupati: three-time Pro Bowler at guard on the offensive line.

-Frank Gore: five-time Pro Bowl running back; over 10,000 career rushing yards.

-Anthony Davis: First-round draft pick and stalwart at offensive tackle.

-Patrick Willis, 7-time Pro-Bowler and 5-time All-Pro linebacker.

-Chris Borland, 108 tackles in just 8 starts as a rookie linebacker.

-Justin Smith, 5-time Pro-Bowler, 2-time All-Pro, and Sports Illustrated Defensive Player of the Year (2011) at defensive end.

-Aldon Smith, Defensive Rookie of the Year (2011), NFC Defensive Player of the Year (2012) and NFL record-holder for most sacks in his first two seasons (33.5).

Every single one of them a starter and key contributor. Iupati and Gore left as free agents. Davis, Willis, Borland and Justin Smith all embarked on retirement, though Smith’s was expected and Davis is returning for this year. Aldon Smith was released after being arrested for a fourth time.

Replacing seven of their 22 starters (eight if you count Kaepernick) proved to be no easy task. Backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert compiled 10 touchdowns to 7 interceptions in his eight starts, earning a 3-5 record. His 63 percent completion percentage and 7.2 yards per attempt were both respectable league averages. Carlos Hyde was expected to fill Gore’s shoes as a workhorse back, but lasted just seven weeks before suffering a season-ending foot fracture.

Minus the pass-rushing presence of the Smiths, the 49ers sack total dropped from 35 in 2014 to 28 in 2015, fourth-fewest in the league. The losses of Willis and Borland in the middle of the field likely contributed to the measly 12 total takeaways by the defense, better than only the 11 of the Dallas Cowboys.

At no point did San Francisco win back-to-back games. Eight of their eleven losses were by at least 14 points. They managed to score 20 points in a game on just four occasions. During a season in which the city of Santa Clara was on the biggest stage as host of Super Bowl 50, the team who calls it home felt like it spent all season being yanked out of sight, “Showtime at the Apollo”-style. Has the team reached its newest low, challenging the 2003-04 teams that combined for a 6-26 record over two seasons? Or will a steadier offseason lead towards a push back in the right direction? Stay tuned with the health of Kaepernick and Hyde to find out.