San Francisco 49ers: Ranking the 10 Worst Teams in Franchise History
By Peter Panacy
No. 7: The 2007 49ers
Regular-Season Record: 5-11, third in the NFC West
Yes, No. 8 was the 2006 49ers and No. 7 is the 2007 squad still led by former head coach Mike Nolan.
But what separates the two years, and makes the ’07 Niners even worse than their predecessor, were an overwhelmingly convoluted mixture of poor decisions, infighting and dysfunction.
OK, so the 5-11 record is bad enough. And that standing won’t be reinforced by San Francisco’s last-place offense (219 points scored) or 20th-ranked defense (364 points allowed).
By this point, the relationship between Nolan and then-quarterback Alex Smith had soured. And Smith’s shoulder injury in Week 4 against the Seattle Seahawks cast plenty of doubt whether or not Nolan wanted to continue with the team’s first-round pick from 2005.
Oh, and in case you forgot, the Niners added free-agent cornerback Nate Clements to the most lucrative offseason deal then given to a defensive back.
Clements didn’t exactly work out despite the big payday.
Perhaps the only positive from this season was the first-round drafting of inside linebacker Patrick Willis.
Otherwise, the 2007 49ers were a squad to forget.
Next: No. 6