With playoff hopes teetering, can Christian McCaffrey, 49ers make a late push?

Eric Williams

NFL Reporter

One of the NFL’s most dominant teams in 2023, the San Francisco 49ers have let three fourth-quarter leads slip away this season — all losses to NFC West opponents.

The 49ers are 2-4 in one-score games, 5-5 overall and face one of the toughest schedules to finish the season. Can Kyle Shanahan right the ship in time for his team to make the postseason?

The 49ers can lean on experience. During the 2022 season, they were 3-4 before reeling off 10 straight wins and reaching the NFC Championship Game. The year before that, they turned around a 6-6 season by winning four of their last five games and again reached the NFC title game, losing a heart-breaker to the Los Angeles Rams.

“You’ve got to make sure you got tough-minded people who can focus on really what their job is and nothing more than that,” Shanahan said. “And it gets harder when you have adversity and you aren’t getting as many W’s as you want. But no matter how much harder it gets, you’ve got to always understand it’s about the ball, and you’ve got to keep it about the ball and nothing else.”

San Francisco is mired in a dogfight in the NFC West, tied with the Seahawks and Rams at 5-5, and a game behind the surprising 6-4 Cardinals. For the first time since 2002, all four NFC West teams have a .500-or-better record through Week 11. The Cardinals have the easiest schedule down the stretch, playing only one team that currently has a winning record.

The reigning NFC West champs are technically in last place in the NFC West due to their 1-3 record within the division. And they face the fourth-toughest remaining schedule in the final seven games.

San Francisco’s tough road to reaching the postseason starts this Sunday on the road at Lambeau Field against the Green Bay Packers. There’s already snow on the ground in Green Bay, but dry conditions are expected for Sunday with temperatures in the 40s.

In a rematch of last season’s division-round game, the trip to Green Bay offers the 49ers a chance to reclaim their blueprint for success. That means Shanahan orchestrating a dominant offense behind the hard running of Christian McCaffrey, generating more production in the red zone, having the defense close out games in the fourth quarter and getting more consistent play from special teams.

Quarterback Brock Purdy, playing much of the season without McCaffrey, is sixth in the league in passing yards, but tied for 12th in touchdowns. In his first two games back, McCaffrey has 213 scrimmage yards but has not reached the end zone after leading the league with 21 total touchdowns last season.

“I feel like I can be a lot better,” McCaffrey said. “Some missed time with an injury is always tough, but it’s not an excuse. But I know I can be a lot better. I feel it. It’s coming. I just got to get rolling.”

San Francisco would benefit from getting a few more stars back on the field. Tight end George Kittle, the team’s top red-zone threat this season with seven scores inside the 20-yard line, did not play last week due to a hamstring injury. But Kittle has declared he will be back on Sunday.

The team’s best player on defense, edge rusher Nick Bosa, is dealing with hip and oblique injuries, making his availability a question mark. Left tackle Trent Williams has been hobbled with an ankle injury. Both missed practice time this week. The 49ers hope to get linebacker Dre Greenlaw, who tore his left Achilles in the Super Bowl, back soon.

With whoever is ready to go, it’s Shanahan’s job to recreate the swagger and explosiveness that made San Francisco a juggernaut and one of the most dominant teams in the league in 2023. The 49ers won 12 games last season by an average of 19 points a game.

San Francisco accomplished that by owning the line of scrimmage. The 49ers were No. 3 in the league in rushing (140.5 per game). They finished second in quarterback pressures (274). They held teams to 90 rushing yards a game, No. 3 in the NFL. And they finished No. 3 in scoring defense, allowing just 17.5 points a contest.

Deebo Samuel must re-emerge as a versatile playmaker, especially with No. 1 receiver Brandon Aiyuk done for the year due to a knee injury. Samuel has just two 100-yard receiving games this season and two total touchdowns.

Has the 49ers’ Super Bowl window closed?

It’s not a lost season for the 49ers — yet. Shanahan has seven games to figure it out.

“A couple plays here and there, and I think we’re looking at it totally differently,” he said. “That’s why we’ve put ourselves in the hole and that’s why we’ve made it a lot harder for ourselves here at this back half.

“But I still think it’s going to come down to the same stuff. I bet these next seven games come down to the fourth quarter and we either get it done or we don’t. We’ve got to find a way to get it done.”

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.

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