SF 49ers: 5 causes behind Niners 2020 playoff elimination
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: All those SF 49ers turnovers
Week 15 against the Cowboys was a perfect microcosm of all the issues the SF 49ers have dealt with this season: injuries, underperforming key players, miscues and depth-chart shortages.
And, most notably, turnovers.
The Niners entered the game with 25 lost turnovers already, second most only to the Denver Broncos’ mark of 30. Denver didn’t lose any turnovers in Week 15, while San Francisco committed four in the 41-33 loss to the Cowboys. With that, the total for the SF 49ers now stands at 29 on the season.
In Week 14 against the Washington Football Team, turnovers resulted in two defensive touchdowns by the Niners’ opponent. Versus Dallas, the Cowboys scored 24 points directly off turnovers.
Considering the other shortcomings San Francisco is facing this season, the margin for error is razor thin. Overcoming turnovers is difficult for most teams at full strength, so it shouldn’t be a surprise why the SF 49ers have floundered down the stretch amid a three-game losing streak and losses in six of their last seven games while the turnover differential, now at minus-11, has continued to sink.
One can only think the Niners would have pulled off at least two or three more wins if they had cut down on a mere handful of turnovers, and we’d be having an entirely different conversation about the team right now.