San Francisco 49ers must play Desperate Football

November 2, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback

(7) hands off to running back

(21) against the St. Louis Rams during the first quarter at Levi

The San Francisco 49ers must play desperate football against the Saints or get eliminated from NFL playoff contention. The New Orleans Saints are bigger and badder and a hard pill to swallow for San Fran. Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL TD Sports Debate. Two brothers from New York yell, scream and debate the NFL and sports.

TODD:

This is it for San Francisco. This Sunday is its last gasp. If the 49ers lose to the Saints, they are out of chances this season.

A loss would drop them to 4-5; they would have lost three in a row and be saddled with a losing record against NFC opponents. They would be looking up at exactly seven conference teams who are better than them. You know why this is a problem? Because only six teams make the playoffs.

The playoff field today looks like this:

Division Leaders – Philadelphia, Detroit, New Orleans (5-4 with win Sunday), Arizona
Wild Card Contenders – Dallas (6-3), Green Bay (5-3), Seattle (5-3)
San Francisco 49ers – San Francisco (4-5 with loss Sunday)

Sure Dallas could jump up and win its division, but then the Eagles would be there to grab a wild card. The same goes for Green Bay and the Lions in the North, and Arizona and the Seahawks out West. There is no hole for the 49ers to sneak through even if some of these wildcard contenders win their divisions.

The other problem is San Fran isn’t better than anyone here at its present state. I personally think it is a more talented team than either team in the NFC East and the Cardinals, but play on the field has not bore that out.

The problem has certainly been injuries, but it’s also been the running game that has let the 49ers down. Rookie Carlos Hyde hasn’t been a factor, tallying just 50 carries all year. And Frank Gore is averaging just 59 yards per game on 4.1 per carry. They also have just three rushing touchdowns total as a team. What a far cry this ground game is from where it was a year ago.

Lastly, let me know if you see Vernon Davis anywhere. No one’s been able to find him all season.

More from San Francisco 49ers

• 49ers 7th-round pick turning out to be an absolute NFL Draft steal
• San Francisco 49ers almost did the unthinkable in 2022
• 3 reasons why Trey Lance could be labeled a bust after 2023
• The San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback situation is exhausting
• Sam Darnold could be the diamond in the rough for the 49ers

DAN:

I last saw Vernon Davis in week one. He put up a passable fantasy score, tweaked something, and has been AWOL ever since. I think he may have taken his quarterback with him, as Colin Kaepernick has also been missing from any and all football talk, unless the pink headphones ‘controversy’ counts as news.

Has there ever been so much riding on a game between two four and four football teams? The Saints don’t need this game nearly as much as San Francisco, simply because their division is so weak, but a loss by either squad is a major setback to wildcard contention.

The best that the 49ers can hope for is wildcard contention. They are not in the conversation for NFC West division title, nor are they in the conversation for actual wildcard playoff teams. Right now, as you aptly stated, they aren’t good enough. Now I’m not a guy that cares much for reasons and excuses and what not, so I’m just going to tell it like it is. San Francisco is not as good as the Saints, will lose to them, and will find itself at 4-5.

You know who else has a 4-5 record? That win and loss total can be claimed by nearly every other team in the NFC, none of them in any sort of championship discussion. The St. Louis Rams can be 4-5 with a win this week. So can the average Carolina Panthers. The disappointing Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants, and even the Washington Redskins can all end this week with four or more victories. That is not good company.

The really funny thing about this entire discussion is that San Francisco is the opposite of all the other teams we’ve pegged as disappointing. It’s practically the opposite of teams like the Cowboys and Cardinals whom we called out as over achievers. A look at the stats shows San Fran near the tip-top in both defensive pass and run categories. Like 3rd and 5th overall. The only glaring deficiency is in the offensive passing game, but we already noted that Vernon Davis has gone missing.

I pegged San Francisco to miss the playoffs and be the team that fell from grace this season, but if I’m being completely honest, I did this back in the March/April timeframe half in jest and only have seriously. This is still a good football team. Unfortunately for the 49ers, there are a lot of good NFC football teams, and more than six playing better football this season.

A 49ers loss to the Saints, which appears inevitable, sinks the ship in the bay. It may take a few careers down with it, but time will tell.