Kurtenbach: The most frustrating part of the 49ers’ exceptionally frustrating season
The 49ers’ season has been excruciating, taxing, frustrating, and, above all, disappointing.
The Niners have only themselves to blame for that.
But wouldn’t it make things easier if the Niners could blame someone else?
Perhaps the most annoying aspect of this season from hell is the fact that the bar turned out to be set so low.
Of course, the 49ers entered this season with firm “Super Bowl or bust” aspirations and an arrogance that such a standard would be easily achievable.
But to win the Super Bowl, you must first make the playoffs.
Yet here we are — the Niners have nothing to play for, at least in the standings, with three games to play. Somehow, the 49ers have not been mathematically eliminated yet, but I don’t have enough space to explain how San Francisco could make the playoffs at 9-8 as a Wild Card.
It’s beyond implausible. There’s a greater likelihood I’m named the King of Norway in the next three weeks.
Winning the NFC West this season wouldn’t have been terribly difficult. Don’t let the concept of competitiveness convince you this division is good. It’s been, as the kids would say, “mid.”
The Niners couldn’t even enter the “mid-off.”
I suppose that proves that the Niners’ preseason arrogance wasn’t so outlandish. The first part of the journey was, in fact, a cakewalk. (That would make this one of the Niners’ few wins this season.)
Seattle is the team to beat in the division this year, but they seem quite easy to beat. Green Bay went to the Pacific Northwest Sunday night and tossed the Seahawks around (and that was before Seattle quarterback Geno Smith was injured.)
The Cardinals and quarterback Kyler Murray are doing their annual second-half fade. Sunday was the team’s first win in its last four games. The matchup with the 49ers in Week 18 will likely determine whether the Cardinals — at one point the division leaders — will finish the season below or under .500.
And then there’s the Rams.
I know the 49ers lost both games to the Rams, but is anybody afraid of the Rams? Sure, they’re a solid team and have a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, but you can make the same argument for the Jets. I think it’s more than fair to say that L.A. isn’t a juggernaut.
Yet they’re the new favorite to win the division. And how could you bet against them at this point?
The bar was so slow for the 49ers to make the tournament. And once you’re in, who knows?
It’s a division where sheer, abject mediocrity would have done the trick. Yet the Niners won’t come anywhere close to the mark.
The good news might be that there’s little reason to think the division will improve year-over-year. The Rams’ young defense might take another step forward in 2025, but the offense will probably regress, as we’ve seen the worst of Matt Stafford to go along with his best. And while I like the overall direction of the Seahawks and Cardinals, the former is stuck in no-man’s land at quarterback, and the latter has a diminutive quarterback who isn’t suddenly going to become stout enough to handle all 17 games.
The Niners need to make wholesale roster changes this upcoming offseason. San Francisco must make moves to become younger, faster, and more powerful across the board. Such resetting moves could result in the need to punt a season.
(Yes, the worst might be yet to come.)
But in the NFC West, such an outlook feels overly pessimistic.
The Super Bowl window might be closed, but if the best the 49ers can do next season is mediocre, that might be more than enough in this division.
So while we watch should-have-been-inferior teams figure out who can stumble over the finish line first, at least there’s something to look forward to next season.