{"id":20336,"date":"2024-12-23T08:26:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-23T08:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=20336"},"modified":"2024-12-23T08:26:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T08:26:00","slug":"kurtenbach-the-49ers-loss-to-the-dolphins-was-the-perfect-encapsulation-of-an-imperfect-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=20336","title":{"rendered":"Kurtenbach: The 49ers\u2019 loss to the Dolphins was the perfect encapsulation of an imperfect season"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Francisco 49ers 17 \u2013 Miami Dolphins 29: The Niners are guaranteed a losing season after one of their worst performances of the campaign.<\/h2>\n

\"Miami<\/p>\n

Miami Dolphins linebacker Jordyn Brooks (20) tackles San Francisco 49ers running back Patrick Taylor Jr. (32) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo\/Rebecca Blackwell)<\/p>\n

If you were blessed to miss the first 15 games of the 49ers\u2019 2024 season, San Francisco gave you a Cliff Notes version of it Sunday in Miami.<\/p>\n

The\u00a029-17 loss to the Dolphins\u00a0perfectly encapsulated the campaign: statistically strong but fundamentally rotten.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the\u00a0Niners averaged more yards per play than the Dophins. San Francisco\u2019s defense held Miami to 4-of-12 on third downs and only one red-zone touchdown in three tries.<\/p>\n

Check a spreadsheet, and the Niners did well.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s too bad football isn\u2019t played on a spreadsheet.<\/p>\n

On the actual grass, in a game played by well-compensated men, the Niners were a disaster. Sunday\u2019s game brought another string of injuries and some of the worst situational football you\u2019ll ever see on both sides of the ball, resulting in a loss.<\/p>\n

Yes, Sunday\u2019s performance was the same kind of game that was explained away early in the season, bemoaned in the fall and has become unavoidable in the twilight of the campaign.<\/p>\n

\"San
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. (1) is tackled by Miami Dolphins running back Jaylen Wright (25) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo\/Lynne Sladky)\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Niners had 11 penalties for 90 critical yards, doubling up a not-exactly-buttoned-up Dolphins squad in that category. They couldn\u2019t run the ball, which was supposed to be head coach and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan\u2019s whole \u201cthing.\u201d They converted only 5-of-14 third and fourth-down situations, and Brock Purdy, playing behind a backup offensive line, threw a game-sealing interception with two minutes to play.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m getting second-hand embarrassment just typing this stuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what\u2019s going on, when you have those penalties like that, you don\u2019t deserve the win. The offense \u2014 the biggest thing was lack of concentration,\u201d\u00a0Shanahan said. \u201c[And] you can\u2019t have three personal fouls on three drives [on defense] in the second half and expect to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the Niners have not won. It\u2019s hard, after all, to play two opponents every week: the team on the other side of the field and yourself.<\/p>\n

That said, I heard many suggest going into Sunday\u2019s Week 16 game that with the Niners playing unburdened games \u2014 San Francisco had no chance to make the playoffs before kickoff \u2014 they might play their best football. The pressure of a Super Bowl-or-bust season had been lifted; might the team\u2019s play lift, too?<\/p>\n

Oh, to be so naive. This kind of stink doesn\u2019t simply wash out.<\/p>\n

Indeed, we saw a contest in perfect South Florida conditions that suggested that the Niners cannot help themselves from self-destructive behavior.<\/p>\n

In fact, it suggested that these Niners haven\u2019t underperformed all season\u2014they might have overperformed going into Sunday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\"San
San Francisco 49ers place kicker Jake Moody (4) kicks a field goal during the first half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo\/Lynne Sladky)\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Dolphins entered Sunday\u2019s game in a bad spot. They needed all the help they could get to win and stay in the playoff race. The 49ers provided that kind of help and more.<\/p>\n

On the second offensive drive of the game, the Niners stacked a hold, false start and sack, turning a nice bit of early-series momentum into a third-and-23 failure and a punt. Great start, gang!<\/p>\n

San Francisco was just getting started.<\/p>\n

The Niners followed that with a false start on a second-quarter third down to take a bad situation and make it impossible.<\/p>\n

Then the Niners took three points to end the third quarter despite being on the Miami 3-yard line in a six-point game without material meaning in the standings. That was lame.<\/p>\n

The all-around failures kept coming in the second half, too.<\/p>\n

The Niners spotted the Dolphins 15 yards with an unnecessary roughness penalty on the first play of the half.<\/p>\n

Then rookie Ricky Pearsall was flagged twice for illegally lining up to first knock the 49ers out of the red zone and then to wipe out a big third-and-long conversion that took the 49ers to the Miami 2-yard line.<\/p>\n

Of course, the Niners missed the field goal at the end of that drive. What else did you expect?<\/p>\n

\"Brock
Brock Purdy #13 of the San Francisco 49ers runs the ball during the third quarter against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on Dec. 22, 2024 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs\/Getty Images)\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And down 19-17 in the fourth quarter, the Niners had two more unnecessary roughness penalties, the latter of which was followed by an offside penalty, giving arguably the NFL\u2019s best kicker 20 free yards of field position. Unlike the Niners\u2019 kicker, Jake Moody, Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders made his non-chip kicks on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Then the Niners, trailing by five with 2:10 to play, could only muster one play before Purdy, who spent much of this game running for his life \u2014 and that\u2019s barely an exaggeration \u2014 threw an interception without a 49ers receiver in the vicinity.<\/p>\n

Oh, and the Niners also had two more special teams penalties, too. That\u2019s now four in the last two games.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s happened way too many times this year,\u201d Nick Bosa said. \u201cIt\u2019s very frustrating all around \u2014 offense, defense, special teams. When you have that many penalties, that\u2019s kind of a harbinger of a loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just bad football, and I don\u2019t put that on Coach Shanahan, I don\u2019t put that on our wide receivers coach and line coach, tight ends coach, that\u2019s on us,\u201d said George Kittle, who caught eight passes for 108 yards and was one of the Niners\u2019 few bright spots. \u201cWe know what the formations are, we have to go out there and execute. I messed up one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Folks, I hope I\u2019m not the first to tell you this, but this is a bad football team. The 49ers\u2019 rise to excellence \u2014 four NFC Championship Games in five years \u2014 was rapid. The Niners reached the Super Bowl in Year Three of the Shanahan regime.<\/p>\n

\"San
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan walk the sidelines during the first half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo\/Lynne Sladky)\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The decline might prove to be even faster.<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s loss moved the Niners to 6-9 in the 17-game season. At this point, they\u2019d be better off losing the final two games for draft position. The good news is that it seems like a likely output regardless of whether or not the Niners tank the final two games.<\/p>\n

But while 2024 being a lost and losing season for the 49ers is certain, what remains unclear is how much they need to do to right the ship whenever it mercifully ends in two weeks.<\/p>\n

Maybe Deebo Samuel, who had a renaissance game Sunday, totaling 121 yards and a touchdown, joined Shanahan, Purdy, Kittle, Bosa, Fred Warner and the Niners\u2019 rookie-deal players as the foundation for 2025 and beyond.<\/p>\n

Maybe not.<\/p>\n

For Samuel and so many other Niners \u2014 both on the field and in the coaching ranks \u2014 two weeks remain to save their jobs.<\/p>\n

Because after Sunday\u2019s disastrous and encapsulating performance, you can easily argue that everything that\u2019s not bolted down should go.<\/p>\n

\"Deebo
Deebo Samuel Sr. #1 of the San Francisco 49ers reacts after a first down reception during the first quarter against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on Dec. 22, 2024 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs\/Getty Images)\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

San Francisco 49ers 17 \u2013 Miami Dolphins 29: The Niners are guaranteed a losing season after one of their worst performances of the campaign. 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