The San Francisco 49ers lost in a shocking upset at home to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Should we be worried about the 49ers heading into the postseason?
One of the greatest things about the NFL is that anybody can beat anybody on any given Sunday. Nobody outside of Flowery Branch thought the Atlanta Falcons had a chance on the road against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 15, but here we are. Atlanta battled back to beat the 49ers in the final seconds to improve to 5-9 on the year. San Francisco drops to 11-3 on the campaign.
Sure, it’s not the end of the world that Kyle Shanahan’s former head coach Dan Quinn’s team got the best of them on Sunday. Many of the players on Quinn’s team were a part of 28-3, a game where Shanahan’s second-half play-calling largely cost Atlanta its first Super Bowl. This game was personal for both parties for a lot of reasons, so the outcome makes some sense.
That being said, we should be a little worried about the 49ers going forward. With this loss, they now fall back into fifth place in the NFC playoff picture. The Seattle Seahawks may have the same record as the 49ers, but they have the head-to-head tiebreaker over San Francisco. They still have to meet one more time in Week 17 in Seattle and that’ll likely be for the NFC West crown.
But before San Francisco even gets a chance to avenge that loss to the Seahawks from earlier in the season, the 49ers will have to host a huge rival in the Los Angeles Rams next week. The Rams were humiliated on the road in Week 15 vs. the Dallas Cowboys. Los Angeles has to win to stay alive in the NFC playoff race. In short, San Francisco will get the Rams’ best effort in Week 16.
Sunday was a game that we all assumed the 49ers were going to win. Once you start assuming things in the NFL, you’re toast. The margin of victory in most NFL games is by one score or less. Atlanta just executed better in the fourth quarter to prove victorious in Week 15. But why should we be worried about the 49ers the rest of the way? There are three causes for concern.
One, the 49ers will not have an easy game the rest of the way to right the ship from this shocking upset. The Rams will be the worst team they’ll play, as the Seahawks and every other team they’ll face this year will be a playoff team. All those games will be of the high stakes variety. Losing at home to a team that has nothing left to play for but pride is a horrible look for the 49ers.
Two, this loss to the Falcons may end up costing the 49ers the division. Sure, they can still win it by beating the Rams and Seahawks, but the 49ers aren’t going to the Super Bowl as a Wild Card team. Levi’s Stadium isn’t a huge home-field advantage, but playing on the road in Green Bay, Minnesota, New Orleans and Seattle is too brutal for an excellent 49ers team to overcome.
And three, it stinks, but this was a game that quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo needed to will his team to victory and he got out-hustled by a superior signal-caller in Matt Ryan. No, Ryan did not have his best game, but played his best when his team needed him to the most. The same can’t be said for Garoppolo. He may have played better than Drew Brees last week, but that was last week.
To bring it all back home, having a home-field advantage is so crucial to the 49ers’ chances of getting to the Super Bowl. If they have to play three NFC playoff games to get there, then you can just forget about them taking their talents to South Beach. Winning multiple playoff road games is next to impossible. Sadly, we just can’t count on Garoppolo to play at a Pro Bowl level each week.