49ers Embarrassed by Arizona 47-24 in Season Finale

The Niners are routed in all the familiar ways.

Jan 5, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Greg Dortch (4) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers in the second half at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The 49ers season ends with a 47-24 defeat that showcases all the reasons they lost 11 games. A gassed defensive line gives up 21 points in the 4th quarter. The quarterback turns the ball over three times while the defense doesn’t have any takeaways. Special teams mistakes. Thirteen penalties. This loss is a microcosm of the season.

The good news is that this season of misery gets a reward in the draft - the 11th pick.

GAME BALLS

Patrick Taylor Jr. – A career high 109 yards on 17 carries with a long of 29.

Ricky Pearsall – He led the team with six catches for 69 yards and a touchdown.

With this being the final game of the year I’m going to skip the penalty flags section.

For the season I was 11-6 in my game predictions. Last year I only missed four, this one was more surprising, particularly in the first half of the year.

THE VIEW FROM 10,000 FEET

Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch now begin the difficult task of identifying the root causes of an 11-loss season. Some are obvious, some are subtle, all of them are important.

Several root causes will be missed in the analysis. The triumvirate at the top sees themselves as executing their core job well. Jed York elevates the value of the franchise and optimizes revenue streams. Kyle Shanahan is leading three straight years of NFC Championships or Super Bowls and determining there is nothing in his own actions and biases that need changing, just changes in personnel and execution. John Lynch carries himself with integrity in representing the organization and managing scouting.

So what gets missed? The most important change is the culture. Independent contractors, not a team, focus on the bag preventing the team from coalescing in camp, a lack of accountability, a lack of discipline.

From a managerial perspective, a culture focused on what Shanahan thinks represents the best chance to win a ring immediately. A generous extension for Christian McCaffrey, followed by Trent Williams saying I want one of those. This could well be followed by George Kittle and Fred Warner asking for their CMC extensions this off-season.

Williams' follow-on request is predictable, yet Lynch said he was surprised by it. Will he be surprised if Kittle and Warner do the same? At each step, Shanahan as defacto GM doubles down on aging fragile vets. To then turn around and say "injuries who knew?" Given the doubling down on fragile players with the high odometer counts.

The team paid dearly for the lack of balance between established older vets and young hungry players. This stems from Shanahan and Lynch directing what is now considered by some draft analysts to be the worst draft in the league in both 2022 and 2023.

They recovered in 2024, but the damage was already done in a glaring lack of depth. An inability to execute the Wide 9 defense due to no defensive linemen taken in 2024 and several whiffs in free agency.

The hardest things to see are the elements we take for granted.

All of these decisions go back to a key 10,000-foot observation. A lack of organizational learning. Bill Walsh laid down principles for the draft and free agency. He made some mistakes, but his success rate was much higher than Shanahan and Lynch.

Walsh maxims - never pay for past performance, better to let go of a player a year too early than a year too late - have been ignored by Shanahan in decisions that were polar opposites. And this year, Shanahan was burned by those choices. Walsh got burned a few times on his principles, but on balance it worked, and showed on the field.

Lynch and Shanahan will get out the shovels to dig for root causes, but the most important insights can be found in the mirror.

More on root causes, free agency, and the draft in the weeks ahead. Thank you for reading my columns this season, I am humbled by your support and welcome your questions and constructive feedback. This is an important time ahead for the 49ers. What will be decided in the next four months will impact the next four years.

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