The San Francisco 49ers took a big step back from nearly winning the Super Bowl last year to going 6-11 this season. Injuries took a toll on the 49ers this year, specifically at the running back position.
San Francisco was without star running back Christian McCaffrey for most of the season. McCaffrey played in just four games and suffered two separate injuries this year. Not having him hurt the offensive production from being one of the best to just an above-average unit.
The real issue is the defense. That unit took a free fall from being one of the best in points allowed last year at No. 3, down all the way to 29th one season later. With the dip in productivity, some are calling for head coach kyle Shanahan to be firmly placed on the hot seat heading into the 2025 NFL season.
Emmanuel Acho Puts Kyle Shanahan on the Hot Seat
After going to four NFC Championship games and appearing in two Super Bowls in a five-year stretch, Shanahan’s job with San Francisco should be firmly safe.
However, former NFL linebacker and current FS1 analyst Emmanuel Acho had some very strong words for the 49ers head coach regarding how he has handled his time in San Francisco.
“Let me be real about the Niners. Shanahan’s seat is officially hot,” Acho said. “You just fired your special teams coach. You just fired your defensive coordinator. You would fire your offensive coordinator, but you are the offensive coordinator. Shanahan, now you gotta get it right.”
This is the truth. pic.twitter.com/pl0BnXwY57
— Grant Cohn (@grantcohn) January 9, 2025
Acho continued his rant by saying that he felt the offseason was a real concern for the 49ers, and it hurt their potential for the 2024 season.
“Last offseason I suggested you got it all wrong. You should have paid Trent Williams sooner. Y’all didn’t. You should have paid Brandon Aiyuk sooner. Y’all didn’t. So I would suggest you did it all wrong last season,” he added.
“I would also go as far to suggest, you wasted a year of Fred Warner’s life. You wasted a year of Nick Bosa’s life. You wasted a year of Charvarius Ward’s life. You wasted a year of Deommodore Lenoir life, because you hired a defensive coordinator that was not suited for the job. You hired your friend. You wasted a year because of cronyism.
“So, because of friendship, you wasted a whole year of the Niners’ life. So, yeah, Shanahan, that seat is hot. You didn’t hire [defensive coordinator Nick] Sorensen because he was qualified; you hired him because he was your homie, and now you lost a whole season because he was your homie.”
Those are some strong words from Acho about how he feels Shanahan’s job status should be questioned going into the 2025 season.
San Francisco is in the process of hiring a new DC as Nick Sorensen has been let go, and there is an internal change at the offensive coordinator position as well.
How Bad Was 49ers’ Offense and Defense This Past Year?
This San Francisco team went backward in several ways this season. They were unable to put up points and took a big step back as a result.
The 49ers went from being third in the NFL in points per game at 28.9 last year and fell all the way down to 14th this season with a 22.9 average.
Shanahan elected to make changes to both coordinator positions. Although the play-calling on offense will still be conducted by himself, Klay Kubiak is now officially the offensive coordinator.
According to Pro Football Network’s OFF+ metrics, the 49ers were actually a top-10 offense and finished ninth overall with a B- grade. That’s still a step back from its league-leading levels of seasons past, but it could have been good enough for a playoff berth with better close-game luck and better defensive support.
Brock Purdy led the second-best offense in terms of yards per play, trailing only the Baltimore Ravens. That’s an incredible accomplishment, given the injuries he’s navigated throughout the season.
There’s plenty of firepower on this roster, but this season was reminiscent of the 2020 49ers, who suffered through an injury-plagued season after a Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. San Francisco can only hope that another run of three straight NFC Championship Game appearances will follow.
The defensive side of the ball had even more issues, going from third in points per game allowed to 29th in one offseason.
With Sorensen out as defensive coordinator, there are reports that former 49ers DC and New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh could be making a return to the Bay Area in the same capacity.
The new hire will be Shanahan’s fourth defensive coordinator in as many seasons.
Per Pro Football Network’s DEF+ metric, San Francisco struggled and finished 26th. For all the attention the injuries on offense got this year, the decline of the 49ers’ defense was a huge concern as well. Having been a top-10 unit each year between 2019 and 2023, San Francisco slipped to its worst season-long ranking since the Defense+ metric began.
Run defense was a huge weakness this year. The Niners ranked 28th in EPA per rush and 25th in rushing success rate. Unlike past years, they couldn’t prop that up with an effective pass defense, which ranked 25th in success rate.
Looking ahead, cornerback Charvarius Ward and linebacker Dre Greenlaw stand out as the top free agents in this unit. Losing Ward, in particular, would be a tough blow given the lack of depth at corner, as that’s an area the Niners will need to address to return to contention.