Niners Season Laughably Almost Over
For a team with a lot of talent, the collapse that is the 2014 season can only be labeled as a sad comedy.
You almost can’t really make it up.
The same team that went to three straight NFC title games, one Super Bowl, seen a sudden resurgence under head coach Jim Harbuagh, blew a 21-point fourth quarter lead to the San Diego Chargers on national television Saturday night putting the cherry on the top of what can only be described as an embarrassing, hilariously humbling season for the Niners. If there’s any team that got caught in their own hype of how good they are, it’s this team.
In fact, the Niners got caught worse than R. Kelly did in that closet. And if there was any time that Jim Harbuagh wanted to get away, I’m sure Southwest Airlines can accommodate.
For the first time since the dark days of the 2010 season, San Francisco was playing in a meaningless, non-playoff implication game and for the first time in a long time, they’ve lost four in a row.
For the first time since 1965, the Niners lost a game they led by at least 21 points at halftime, per the Associated Press.
But you still have to give credit to San Diego. Unlike their opponent Saturday night, the Chargers (9-6) didn’t mail it in in the fourth quarter. After going into the locker room down 28-7 at the half, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers led San Diego to 308 yards, 31 points and 21 first downs in the second half as Rivers went 24-for-40 for 273 yards with three touchdowns and one pick in the last two quarters and overtime.
“They made plays,” Niners nose tackle Mike Purcell said. “They just made plays. We didn’t make the plays we needed to make to come out on top.”
And that’s not to say that the Niners didn’t make plays of their own. Everyone (including myself) thought the game was over after Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick scored on a 90-yard touchdown run, the second longest by a quarterback in NFL history (three yards shy of the 93-yard record held by Terrelle Pryor last season against Pittsburgh).
Defensively, despite the injuries, the Niners picked off Rivers three times in the game.
San Francisco (7-8) ran for a franchise-record 355 yards, scored on a pick-six by Antoine Bethea and scored their post points since October 2013. Kaepernick and running back Frank Gore became the first two Niners to run for 110 rushing yards in the same since 1977.
That takes us back to the beginning sentence of this column: you can’t make this up.
The same team that came two plays short of Super Bowl berths, one play short of winning a Super Bowl, preaches “Quest for Six,” believed that their quarterback is worth $100 million and thinks that nobody has it better than them, to see this team not only be eliminated from playoff contention last week but also blow a 21-point lead at home to a team they really can and should have beaten is just flat-out comical.
You don’t just collapse with the same core of players who helped you win throughout the last three years without any sort of arrogance and the Niners were just that.
To make the “better of the Bay” argument, the Raiders actually look good compared to San Francisco right now. At least they play hard for all four quarters.
Then toss in that short-answered post-game presser Kaepernick had two weeks ago after losing to Oakland, and you really can’t help but laugh, regardless of how much of a fan you are.
This is a Niners team that while talented across the board, let their talents get to their head and now they’ll have an entire offseason to think about it, including January.
“Right now, there’s not much to say,” Harbaugh said.
For once, while the rest of the league should laugh at the sudden collapse of a team whose “Quest for Six” has come to an utter fail, Harbaugh and the rest of the Niners are doing the right move. Staying quiet and, for their sake, becoming humble.
So, let’s revisit one question: Who’s got it better than the Niners? Everybody.