The San Francisco 49ers have had plenty of historic teams. Unfortunately, the 2016 Niners were historically bad, which prompts the question about how they rank among the franchise’s worst teams.
Fans of the San Francisco 49ers might want to forget 2016 ever happened.
A 2-14 record and historic lows on the defensive side of the ball have to force former head coach Chip Kelly’s squad into the discussion of franchise-worst teams.
Last year, Niner Noise explored the 10 worst Niners teams in franchise history dating back to 1946. To put things into some perspective, the 2015 group under fellow one-and-done head coach Jim Tomsula finished No. 5 on the list.
Remember, those Niners from not long ago did manage to finish with a 5-11 record, which many fans would have gladly taken last year.
Both teams finished with a win in Week 1, and each of those victories were dominant in one fashion or another. But, as was the case in both 2015 and 2016, San Francisco hit an elongated losing streak where opponents seemed to have no trouble picking apart the defense and stifling any offensive production from the 49ers.
Only the 2016 losing streak extended all the way to Week 16, which set a franchise record.
It wasn’t the only record last year’s Niners set.
A Year of Historic Highs and Lows
For the most part, the 49ers of 2016 ranked high in stats they didn’t want to finish high and low in, well… you get the picture.
Just take a look at some of the numbers, courtesy of Pro Football Reference:
| Tot Yds & TO | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | PF | Yds | Y/P | TO | FL | 1stD | Att | Yds | TD | Int | NY/A | Att | Yds | TD | Y/A |
| Team Stats | 309 | 4930 | 4.9 | 25 | 15 | 287 | 491 | 2911 | 21 | 10 | 5.4 | 458 | 2019 | 15 | 4.4 |
| Opp. Stats | 480 | 6502 | 5.9 | 20 | 10 | 358 | 521 | 3848 | 30 | 10 | 6.9 | 548 | 2654 | 25 | 4.8 |
| Lg Rank Offense | 27 | 31 | 21 | 32 | 30 | 29 | 32 | 19 | 10 | 29 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 11 | |
| Lg Rank Defense | 32 | 32 | 19 | 9 | 29 | 2 | 14 | 25 | 23 | 28 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 |
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/19/2017.
Yeah, those are some pretty bad numbers.
Kelly’s team finished the year by setting franchise records in rushing yards allowed, points allowed and all-purpose yards allowed, as pointed out by Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee:
#49ers have now established franchise highs in:
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) January 1, 2017
* Yards allowed in a season
* Points allowed in a season
* Rushing yards allowed in a season
And the offense, while at times better than the year prior, also managed to finish next to last in total yards gained (4,930). Passing numbers weren’t great either, even if some might argue quarterback Colin Kaepernick enjoyed a moderate bounce-back year under Kelly’s tutelage.
At least Kelly did manage to engineer a few positives for San Francisco, so we have to take those into consideration as well.
Related Story: Chip Kelly Deserves Some Credit for 49ers Efforts in 2016
Still, it was mostly bad.
Who Gets the Blame for the 49ers Woes?
Kelly isn’t blameless.
He failed to adjust the offense for the players on the roster, often so key for a head coach working with a less-than-stellar roster.
While the uptempo scheme was tuned down a bit, San Francisco still led the league in pace, per Football Outsiders.
And this hurt the defense, unquestionably.
Speaking of the defense, coordinator Jim O’Neil’s read-and-react scheme didn’t play well into the overall picture either.
Yet the biggest culprit might be former general manager Trent Baalke, who inadequately built one of the worst rosters in team history. It might not be as bad as the 2005 or even 1979 bunch under Hall of Famer Bill Walsh.
But it was still bad. And that’s on Baalke.
So Where Do the 2016 49ers Rank?
The 1978 and 1979 49ers — both teams finished with a 2-14 record — each managed to boast notably better defenses than what was seen a year ago.
So the 2016 bunch has to rank worse than those two teams, even though the offenses were relatively comparable.
And the 2005 49ers, who finished third on our list a year ago, could at least brag about being a four-win team. But the year before?
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Well, it’s hard to remove the 2004 49ers under former head coach Dennis Erickson from their No. 2 worst team in franchise history.
Unlike the 2016 bunch, the 2004 squad had next to no talent on the roster. And a majority of the roster likely couldn’t make other NFL practice squads. To make things worse, the 2004 Niners were hindered by poor contracts in years prior, which ensured that year would be a horrible one.
It was, which keeps the 2004 Niners in place as the second worse team.
Kelly’s 2016 49ers now rank at No. 3 in worst San Francisco franchises.
Next: Ranking the 10 Worst 49ers Teams in Franchise History
Oh, and for the record, the 1968 49ers are still the worst overall.