Rams' Bitter Rival May Need to Blow It Up

The San Francisco 49ers may be left with no choice but to make wholesale changes this coming NFL offseason.

Dec 1, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills defensive end Greg Rousseau (50) sacks San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) during the first half at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

If Sunday night wasn't rock bottom for the San Francisco 49ers, I don't know what is.

The 49ers were absolutely hammered by the Buffalo Bills in a snow-filled disaster in Week 13, falling 35-10 and dropping to 5-7 on the year.

San Francisco is now in last place in the NFC West, and with Christian McCaffrey now out for an extended period of time with a PCL injury, the Niners' playoff hopes are all but shot.

Excuse me for being a bit blunt, but what the heck happened to the 49ers this season?

Well, injuries are a pretty solid justification for why San Francisco has been so awful. Brandon Aiyuk is out for the year. McCaffrey is probably done after playing just four games. A plethora of other players on both sides of the ball are either out or playing through injuries.

So, yeah. A pattern of incredibly unlucky health is certainly one of the primary reasons why the Niners are about to miss the playoffs after just making it all the way to the Super Bowl last February.

But it also runs deeper than that.

It's beginning to look like Vernon Davis was right in his recent assessment: the 49ers' championship window may have closed.

At some point, you need to break through. You can't just stay in the mix forever, and San Francisco has done that for the better part of the last five years. But it hasn't been able to get over the hump.

The Niners had their best opportunity last winter, when they pushed the Kansas City Chiefs to overtime but couldn't quite close the deal. That may have been the death blow.

And now, the 49ers are faced with the possibility of blowing up the roster this coming offseason.

Deebo Samuel could be gone. Charvarius Ward may sign elsewhere. Some other key players—both on offense and defense—may end up in a different uniform in 2025.

San Francisco as we know it could end up looking awfully different come next September, and while this doesn't necessarily mean the Brock Purdy-led Niners are done contending, it does mean that they may have to go through a couple of dry years before they return to prominence.

Luckily, the 49ers play in the NFC West, which is one of the worst divisions in football right now. But things have clearly gotten stale.

Don't be surprised if general manager John Lynch makes some major changes in the spring.

Kyle Shanahan is almost certainly safe, and Purdy will be under center. But there aren't many other sure things on San Francisco's roster heading into 2025.

Given how loaded the Niners looked going into this season, that sounds incredibly farfetched, but at this point, it's the truth.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @RamsInsideronSI and @tcav30 and never miss another breaking news story again.