Five Takeaways From the 49ers' 43-17 Week 5 Loss to Dolphins

Here are five takeaways from the 49ers' 43-17 Week 5 loss to the Dolphins.

The San Francisco 49ers finished the 2019 season with a 13-3 record and a trip to the Super Bowl.

Through five weeks of the 2020 season, the 49ers have already matched their total losses and have slim chances of making the playoffs at this point.

Losing to the Miami Dolphins just adds to the pile of inexcusable losses for the 49ers. This is not an elite team. This team looks out of sorts. This team looks like the 2017 49ers. 

Getting blown out the way they did on Sunday reveals a ton about this team.

Here are five takeaways from the 49ers' 43-17 Week 5 loss to the Dolphins.

49ers are in shambles

After being decimated by the lowly Dolphins at home, it is as clear as day that the 49ers are in shambles. This is not a knee-jerk reaction or an overreaction because this is now the third time the 49ers have lost a game they never should have lost. Yes, injuries have plagued this team, but that is not a viable excuse. It wasn't a viable excuse last season when they lost so many key players and it will not be viable in this case.

San Francisco is out of sorts. This is not the dominating team that you saw last season. As a matter of fact, throw 2019 out the window because the more this team loses against poor teams, it is reinforcing the notion that last season was a fluke. 

Head coach Kyle Shanahan is not calling plays to the best of his ability and he has no feel for his team on the defensive side of the ball. Starting Brian Allen over Ahkello Witherspoon just because he doesn't like him is a meathead decision. Shanahan needs to figure it out and it starts with his decision making. Otherwise, forget the Super Bowl "revenge tour", the 49ers will be lucky to just make the playoffs at this stage.

Jimmy Garoppolo was still injured

Jimmy Garoppolo had himself an atrocious game against the Dolphins. What was supposed to be his chance at getting himself into game shape again turned into a choke job. In a way, it didn't surprise me that he played poorly because he is still injured. Garoppolo suffered a high ankle sprain just three weeks ago and was limited all week in practice leading up to Week 5. He was not fully fit by any measure.

Unfortunately, the 49ers had no choice but to start him against the Dolphins. The season was teetering in the wrong direction after losing to the Eagles, and the 49ers needed a win by any means to stay alive for the playoffs. Starting Garoppolo, even if he was only relatively healthy, was the only route Shanahan had to take. You live and die off of your starting quarterback with your season looking bleak. 

It was certainly a gamble to do so because it was risking Garoppolo to further injury behind a swiss-cheese offensive line. While he didn't sustain further injury, the gamble completely blew up in Shanahan's face and now he faces another tough decision heading into Week 6 against the Rams.

The offensive line may be unfixable

Comparing the 49ers' offensive line in 2019 to 2020 is night and day. They were arguably one of the best groups in the league. Now they are easily one of the worst groups in the league. Anytime a quarterback drops back to pass, they are met with pressure. Anytime a running back is handed the ball, they have to adjust with penetration in the backfield. 

The offensive line just looks unfixable five weeks into the season. How on earth is Shanahan going to bandage this massive weakness of the team? The 49ers had all of their starters, aside from Weston Richburg, return in Week 5, yet couldn't manage more than 17 points against a lowly defense. It was simply pathetic to see the offense get owned like that and a lot of woes fall on the offensive line. 

Mike McGlinchey has slimmed down and looks lanky. Almost every time you look at him, he is getting pushed back. His regression is extremely worrisome, but not as worrisome as Trent Williams. This guy was a stud in training camp and looked dominant early on. For whatever reason, the guy is whiffing on blocks and allowing sacks left and right. Interior offensive line was difficult enough to overcome as it is, but now it looks as if the offensive line as a unit is unfixable. 

Did Robert Saleh get exposed?

As uninspiring as the season has gone for the 49ers, the defense has been relatively good through the first four games. That was until the Dolphins came in and completely curb stomped them. As soon as they saw Brian Allen as a starting cornerback, the Dolphins made it a point to keep throwing at him on every drive until the 49ers pulled him from the game. They eventually did, but it was a case of too little too late.

Seeing Allen get abused out there sent fans in an uproar on twitter about defensive coordinator Robert Saleh getting exposed, so did he?

A bit. I wouldn't necessarily cast full blame on Saleh for Allen starting. Shanahan is the one who gives the green light on who starts and when a player gets pulled, so both of those decisions cost the 49ers. Witherspoon is the player who should have started, yet Shanahan had no problem subtly throwing him under the bus for why he didn't start. 

Saleh only got a bit exposed because he was naïve in thinking he could just plug Allen into the starting lineup without giving him some help over the top. Allen was left on an island on practically every snap, which is insane. The guy hadn't played a game since 2018 and was going up against a talented wide receiver group. Saleh should have adjusted by giving help.

Wild Card or Bust

Forget about the Super Bowl. Those hopes are now very slim for the 49ers. Forget about the NFC West. Those hopes are a longshot, especially with the Seahawks improving to 5-0. It is now Wild Card or Bust for the 49ers going forward and even that seems like a pipe dream given the current state of the team. Wild Card playoff berth is the best result the 49ers will get this season.

They just finished 2-3 in the easiest five-game stretch of their season. Now they have to prepare for the toughest five-game stretch of their season with Rams, Patriots, Seahawks, Packers and Saints ahead of them. I do not see more than one win, if any win at all here. Each of these teams are significantly better than the 49ers. The only way the 49ers will have a chance is if the offensive line tightens up and Shanahan gets the team as a whole better prepared. 

I won't hold my breathe on either of the two improvements to occur. San Francisco's season is officially at a cross-roads and they are barely entering Week 6. Either they make it or break it, starting with the Rams on Sunday night.