Are the 49ers finished without Jimmy Garoppolo, or just fine?

The San Francisco 49ers were dealt some horrible injury news on Jimmy Garoppolo and George Kittle.

The San Francisco 49ers were expected to put up quite the fight before relinquishing their NFC championship, but a perfect storm of bad luck has the 49ers at 4-4 with minimal optimism for the remainder of the season in sight. The 49ers’ poor injury luck continued against the Seattle Seahawks, as the entire backbone of their offense disintegrated in the second half.

The 49ers were dealt with a 1-2 punch of gutting injury news this afternoon, as starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was put on the shelf for six weeks due to an ankle injury at the same time superstar tight end George Kittle was ruled out for eight weeks. 

The 49ers face a very difficult path to the postseason in 2020

San Francisco has the misfortune of the strongest division in football. Russell Wilson’s Seahawks can rack up points in a hurry, and Kyler Murray’s Arizona Cardinals proved last night that they are a legit playoff team. Even Aaron Donald and the Los Angeles Rams are firmly in the playoff hunt, and they can’t be discounted at 5-3.

Kyle Shanahan is a fantastic coach and offensive playcaller, but it’s asking a bit too much to make a deep playoff run with Nick Mullens, a guy who Shanahan one benched this season for CJ Beathard in a loss against the Eagles, without his top tight end in Kittle and lead running back in Raheem Mostert is a bit of a tall ask.

The 49ers have three games left in the division, and they have gone 1-2 against NFC West teams this season. Their next two games are against Aaron Rodgers and a Packers team that has Super Bowl aspirations. Right after that? Only a game against Drew Brees and a New Orleans Saints team that has managed to win consistently despite the absence of Michael Thomas. San Francisco fans better brace for the worst with most of their starting offense on the mend.

The 49ers looked almost unstoppable last year thanks to Garoppolo’s efficient passing and an unstoppable defense. In 2020, however, the injury bug coupled with an impossibly strong division has the 49ers on the outside looking in and destined for a last-place finish. Any chance they had of defending their crown just slipped away when Kittle and Garoppolo went down.