It’s here. The final week of the regular season for the San Francisco 49ers, who will miss out on another season of playoff football.
It’s been a long, strenuous season for the 49ers, who have dealt with numerous devastating injuries and close, heartbreaking losses. It’s been a factor all season, but losing Jimmy Garoppolo essentially doomed any playoff hopes San Francisco had. The 49ers in total have 14 players on the injured reserve list, which is lower than last seasons amount, but there a plethora of starters on that list.
Offense
Moving onto Week 17, Nick Mullens came in for a struggling C.J. Beathard and gave everyone some really fun weeks of football, something us fans hadn’t had much of since Garoppolo’s ACL tear. We have one more week of Mullens football before we see what the teams plan is for him. Many teams are in need of a quarterback and Mullens has shown that he is more than capable of being a competent quarterback in the league.
He has thrown for almost 2,000 yards with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions, but those numbers will change by the end of this game. He is also completing passes at 64%. Keep in mind, his receiving corps has been inconsistent all around excluding the Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle. Dante Pettis made strides with Mullens, but was placed on injured reserve this week, alongside Matt Breida. Garrett Celek and Marquise Goodwin are also out for this game, so Mullens will have an even less core to work with.
Jeff Wilson Jr. will be the main running back for the 49ers, as Breida is on injured reserve as mentioned earlier. He rushed for 27 yards on 11 carries last week against the Chicago Bears. His main problem has been fumbling this season, but if he has a solid game this week, he can provide really tough competition for the other running backs like Jerick McKinnon and Raheem Mostert, although these two should make next years roster.
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Defense
The 49ers run defense has been really good as of late. Teams have been struggling to get the ball going on the ground and luckily for the 49ers, Rams star running back Todd Gurley is out this week. It’ll be interesting to see how the Rams attack the ball on the ground without Gurley.
Jared Goff has been one of the best playmakers this season, but hasn’t been playing at a star level recently. He most notably had four interceptions against the Bears a few weeks ago. Last week, he played against the Arizona Cardinals and threw for 216 yards and one touchdown, completing 79% of his passes. The 49ers do have a banged up secondary, with rookies and backups now getting crucial reps, so this will be a good test for them.
Prediction
The game will be much closer than last weeks matchup, but the Rams still defeat the 49ers 30-17. If the 49ers lose, they should lock up the #2 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
– Sanjesh Singh is the managing editor for the San Francisco 49ers on Full Press Coverage He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @TheSanjeshSingh Follow @FPC_49ers and Facebook.
