BobbyLayne
Footballguy
@FBG Moderator @Joe Bryant
*I think - is that correct (excluding ties)?*
For FF managers in their Championship Week, Dan Campbell had this to say about how those scenarios affect their preparation:
“Yeah, I’ll make this easy for everybody that way all the critics can jump out and start attacking, but that way you don’t have to debate them anymore," Campbell said. "We’re bringing everything that we have to this game, and we are playing, and I don’t care what it looks like, and where it’s at or who’s this, who’s that, we’re going out to play and win this game out on the west coast. So, there you go.”
Well this not the game the schedule makers were hoping for, but the 49ers still have talented remnants and a lot of pride.
Will have more to post when it's clear what the stakes are for tomorrow.
- If the Vikings lose their 4:25pm home game - vs a 3rd place team they’ve already beaten - the Lions can clinch the NFC North for the second straight season. Back to back division titles would be another franchise first in a season full of them. A Detroit win would also clinch the #1 seed for the 1st time in the Super Bowl era.
- If the Vikings win Sunday, Week 18 is for the division title and the top seed, and the MNF outcome has no impact because if both teams finish 1-1 the Lions hold the tiebreaker.
- Put another way, if the. Vikings win out, they’re the #1 seed. If the Lions win out, they would be the #1 seed.
(it’s possible for Minnesota to tumble to the 6th seed by losing out if Green Bay beats the Bears next week.)
*I think - is that correct (excluding ties)?*
For FF managers in their Championship Week, Dan Campbell had this to say about how those scenarios affect their preparation:
“Yeah, I’ll make this easy for everybody that way all the critics can jump out and start attacking, but that way you don’t have to debate them anymore," Campbell said. "We’re bringing everything that we have to this game, and we are playing, and I don’t care what it looks like, and where it’s at or who’s this, who’s that, we’re going out to play and win this game out on the west coast. So, there you go.”
Well this not the game the schedule makers were hoping for, but the 49ers still have talented remnants and a lot of pride.
On deck: While Lions have managed to survive injuries, the 49ers have been undone by them
Allen Park — No one around these parts will soon forget what happened the last time the Detroit Lions faced the San Francisco 49ers.
With a trip to the Super Bowl on the line last January, the visiting Lions jumped out to a 17-point lead at the half, before the dream came undone. The typically sure-handed Josh Reynolds dropped a would-be fourth-down conversion. Two snaps later, a deep ball ricocheted off the helmet of cornerback Kindle Vildor into the waiting hands of 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk for a 51-yard gain that sparked a long touchdown drive. And on the first play of Detroit's ensuing possession, running back Jahmyr Gibbs lost a fumble.
A little less than 12 minutes into the third quarter, Detroit’s lead was gone and never recovered. They would ultimately drop the heartbreaking decision, 34-31.
Those 49ers were the NFC’s best team, not just that day, but that season. They were the conference’s No. 1 seed, clinching home-field advantage through the Super Bowl in a primetime matchup the week before the regular season finale.
It’s interesting how the tables have turned in 11 months. On Monday, the Lions return as visitors for a primetime game with the potential to secure the NFC’s top seed, pending the result of Green Bay and Minnesota a day earlier.
The 49ers, meanwhile, are free to start making vacation plans after being officially eliminated from postseason contention last week.
The biggest difference between the franchise arcs this season has been how each has navigated adversity. It’s an indisputable fact the Lions have been impacted by injuries more than any other NFL team, but if there was a silver medal, the 49ers would be a leading contender.
Regardless, only one team has managed to plow forward, undeterred, through their mounting losses.
San Francisco’s first big blow came before the start of the season, when a nagging Achilles issue sidelined running back Christian McCaffrey for two months.
The team managed to keep its head above water while the league’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year recovered, going 4-4 without him, but an ACL tear to the team’s leading receiver from a year ago, Brandon Aiyuk, followed by a second, season-ending injury for McCaffrey, has sent the team spiraling to five losses in their past six games.
There have been other injuries along the way.
The 49ers’ backfield has taken additional lumps. Backup Elijah Mitchell’s season ended before it started, landing on injured reserve coming out of training camp. And productive McCaffrey replacement, Jordan Mason, is on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain.
Pro Bowl defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (triceps), starting guard Jon Feliciano (knee) and cornerback Ambry Thomas (forearm) are some of the other mainstays done for the year, with key contributors, such as offensive tackle Trent Williams, linebacker Dre Greenlaw, safety Talanoa Hufanga and rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall, all missing multiple games.
Beyond the injuries, the 49ers have undergone some notable personnel changes since last year's NFC Championship, particularly at defensive tackle where they moved on from Arik Armstead and Javon Kinlaw this past offseason.
They replaced some of the interior snaps with former Brown Jordan Elliott. The 49ers also added two edge pieces, Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos, via free agency. Floyd has been their best addition, starting 14 games and racking up 8.5 sacks.
In the draft, the team used its first-round pick on Pearsall, but his debut was delayed after he was shot in an attempted robbery during the offseason. Regardless, the 49ers have gotten quality contributions from its rookie class with second-round cornerback Renardo Green seeing more than 500 defensive snaps and third-round offensive lineman Dominick Puni playing nearly every right guard rep.
Even Isaac Guerendo, a fourth-round running back out of Louisville, was serviceable as the team’s fourth option in the backfield before he was bit by the injury bug, as well. His status for this weekend’s game is up in the air.
On top of the personnel adjustments, the 49ers made two significant alterations to the coaching staff, replacing defensive coordinator Steve Wilks with Nick Sorensen, a former NFL safety who served as the team's passing game coordinator in 2023. Additionally, former Chargers coach Brandon Staley was added as an assistant head coach to Kyle Shanahan.
Year to year, the defense has continued to be tough to move the ball against, but they've been awful in the red zone in 2024, contributing to a 33% increase in points against compared to last season.
Pair that decline with an offense scoring nearly seven points per game fewer in 2024 without McCaffrey and Aiyuk, and it's no wonder the 49ers have fallen so far after nearly winning the franchise's sixth Super Bowl a year ago.
With a trip to the Super Bowl on the line last January, the visiting Lions jumped out to a 17-point lead at the half, before the dream came undone. The typically sure-handed Josh Reynolds dropped a would-be fourth-down conversion. Two snaps later, a deep ball ricocheted off the helmet of cornerback Kindle Vildor into the waiting hands of 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk for a 51-yard gain that sparked a long touchdown drive. And on the first play of Detroit's ensuing possession, running back Jahmyr Gibbs lost a fumble.
A little less than 12 minutes into the third quarter, Detroit’s lead was gone and never recovered. They would ultimately drop the heartbreaking decision, 34-31.
Those 49ers were the NFC’s best team, not just that day, but that season. They were the conference’s No. 1 seed, clinching home-field advantage through the Super Bowl in a primetime matchup the week before the regular season finale.
It’s interesting how the tables have turned in 11 months. On Monday, the Lions return as visitors for a primetime game with the potential to secure the NFC’s top seed, pending the result of Green Bay and Minnesota a day earlier.
The 49ers, meanwhile, are free to start making vacation plans after being officially eliminated from postseason contention last week.
The biggest difference between the franchise arcs this season has been how each has navigated adversity. It’s an indisputable fact the Lions have been impacted by injuries more than any other NFL team, but if there was a silver medal, the 49ers would be a leading contender.
Regardless, only one team has managed to plow forward, undeterred, through their mounting losses.
San Francisco’s first big blow came before the start of the season, when a nagging Achilles issue sidelined running back Christian McCaffrey for two months.
The team managed to keep its head above water while the league’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year recovered, going 4-4 without him, but an ACL tear to the team’s leading receiver from a year ago, Brandon Aiyuk, followed by a second, season-ending injury for McCaffrey, has sent the team spiraling to five losses in their past six games.
There have been other injuries along the way.
The 49ers’ backfield has taken additional lumps. Backup Elijah Mitchell’s season ended before it started, landing on injured reserve coming out of training camp. And productive McCaffrey replacement, Jordan Mason, is on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain.
Pro Bowl defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (triceps), starting guard Jon Feliciano (knee) and cornerback Ambry Thomas (forearm) are some of the other mainstays done for the year, with key contributors, such as offensive tackle Trent Williams, linebacker Dre Greenlaw, safety Talanoa Hufanga and rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall, all missing multiple games.
Beyond the injuries, the 49ers have undergone some notable personnel changes since last year's NFC Championship, particularly at defensive tackle where they moved on from Arik Armstead and Javon Kinlaw this past offseason.
They replaced some of the interior snaps with former Brown Jordan Elliott. The 49ers also added two edge pieces, Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos, via free agency. Floyd has been their best addition, starting 14 games and racking up 8.5 sacks.
In the draft, the team used its first-round pick on Pearsall, but his debut was delayed after he was shot in an attempted robbery during the offseason. Regardless, the 49ers have gotten quality contributions from its rookie class with second-round cornerback Renardo Green seeing more than 500 defensive snaps and third-round offensive lineman Dominick Puni playing nearly every right guard rep.
Even Isaac Guerendo, a fourth-round running back out of Louisville, was serviceable as the team’s fourth option in the backfield before he was bit by the injury bug, as well. His status for this weekend’s game is up in the air.
On top of the personnel adjustments, the 49ers made two significant alterations to the coaching staff, replacing defensive coordinator Steve Wilks with Nick Sorensen, a former NFL safety who served as the team's passing game coordinator in 2023. Additionally, former Chargers coach Brandon Staley was added as an assistant head coach to Kyle Shanahan.
Year to year, the defense has continued to be tough to move the ball against, but they've been awful in the red zone in 2024, contributing to a 33% increase in points against compared to last season.
Pair that decline with an offense scoring nearly seven points per game fewer in 2024 without McCaffrey and Aiyuk, and it's no wonder the 49ers have fallen so far after nearly winning the franchise's sixth Super Bowl a year ago.
Will have more to post when it's clear what the stakes are for tomorrow.