The 49ers entered Week 15 as a long shot for the final wild-card playoff spot in the NFC. The team's loss on Sunday to the Dallas Cowboys, coupled with the Arizona Cardinals' victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, has officially eliminated Kyle Shanahan's squad from playoff contention. This comes a season after representing the NFC in the Super Bowl.
The Cowboys beat the 49ers 41-33 while the Cardinals beat the Eagles 33-26.
With San Francisco's playoff hopes gone, you have to wonder if we've seen the last of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and tight end George Kittle. Shanahan and general manager John Lynch had hoped both would return this season and indicated that the 49ers' playoff status might impact any decision.
Garoppolo is attempting to return from a high-ankle sprain while Kittle hopes to come back from a broken bone in his foot. Both injuries occurred during Week 8 against the Seattle Seahawks. While Kittle remains on injured reserve, San Francisco opened his practice window last week.
"I'm not going to lie to you," Lynch said this past week. "Us taking care of business and mathematically staying in this thing would go a long way to us having interest in those guys playing because if not, yes, they're paid to play football, they love to play football. You'd be a little more inclined to (play them), though, if we still have a chance to be in it because they're both terrific football players. They both mean a lot to our team."
San Francisco has two games remaining on its schedule. The 49ers will be the road team on Saturday, December 26, against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. San Francisco will then host the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, January 3, also at State Farm Stadium.
The best record the 49ers can finish with is 7-9. It will be Shanahan's third losing season in four years as a head coach.
"This year was the most disappointing one," a somber Shanahan told reporters after the game. "We had very high expectations coming into this year. Losing the Super Bowl and then not getting to see our guys until training camp, we were really working on trying to run that back with a very similar group. We didn't make too many changes, and I think that changed pretty early in the season, and we had to go in a different direction with our team and stuff.
"Definitely a huge challenge this year. I always believe we could have won more games than we have so far."
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