Niners Nation
We gave you three options to determine what would, if anything, hold the 49ers back in the second half of the season
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Following a gritty win in Tampa Bay, the 49ers are in position to make their patented late-season run with a playoff probability of 56 percent. A win over Seattle will raise their chances to 65 percent. Seattle comes into Santa Clara off their bye week and is fighting for their playoff lives. With a loss, Seattle’s chances drop to six percent.
Aside from Christian McCaffrey and Jauan Jennings’ return, the one change from the bye week is the 49ers’ ability to win ugly. Before the bye, the Tampa Bay game would have ended in a gut-wrenching loss, but in the NFL, wins are wins, and the 49ers desperately need wins. Many of the issues for the 49ers continued in Week 10: poor special teams play, undisciplined sequences, and not converting in the red zone.
The question is: What will the 49ers’ biggest challenges be down the stretch?
Special Teams
Against all odds, the 49ers aren’t the worst special teams unit in the NFL. Take away the missed field goals. Every facet of special teams is an adventure. For a franchise that has seen their seasons go up in flames due to special teams (although Kyle Shanahan wasn’t Kyle Williams’ coach) and qualified for an NFC Championship off a huge special teams play in Green Bay, the team doesn’t have an answer for the issues.
A muffed punt in the Super Bowl was a huge turning point in the game, and on Sunday, a nearly identical play occurred with Darrell Luter Jr, who was involved in the Super Bowl gaffe and kept the Bucs in the game. It seems every game this season has featured a special teams blunder. Point blank, either it’s being coached or not being addressed, and I’m not sure which is worse.
The 49ers just have to have an average special teams unit to squash the concerns. Not the second-worst in the NFL.
Injuries
McCaffrey and Jennings’ return helped the 49ers offense massively. Dre Greenlaw has a chance to return to the lineup later this month. Jonathan Feliciano’s practice window was opened, but the veteran offensive lineman wasn’t activated. Feliciano’s return will provide valuable depth for the 49ers.
Somehow, even with Brandon Aiyuk’s season-ending injury, the 49ers are one of the healthier teams heading into Week 11. Perhaps the team got their injuries out of the way early on and can find a way to be at their healthiest going down the stretch and into their playoff run. The team can ill-afford an impactful injury from here on out. Injuries can’t be predicted, but fingers crossed for injury luck to be on the team’s...
