3 biggest reasons why SF 49ers fell short of expectations in 2020

The SF 49ers were expected to compete for another Super Bowl in 2020, but falling short ultimately happened because of these three reasons.

Now that the NFL regular season has concluded, it’s obvious this year’s SF 49ers were not the same NFC defending champions of 2019.

There were simply too many obstacles to overcome, and here are the three biggest reasons why the Niners fell short of expectations in 2020.

Injuries played a major role in all of this. But those injuries ended up rolling over and exposing other problems throughout the roster, too. And those reasons are just as crucial when understanding why San Francisco fell way short of expectations this season.

But to understand why the SF 49ers’ season derailed, one needs to go back to before it even began: the offseason.

No. 3: Injuries took toll on SF 49ers early

What was supposed to be the revenge tour of 2020 actually turned out to be the nightmare season from hell. It all began back in the dog days of summer with a select group of players opting to privately workout in Nashville, Tennessee.

Star wide receiver Deebo Samuel was the first domino to fall before things quickly spiraled out of control. Samuel suffered a Jones fracture in his foot that required surgery and kept him out of the lineup until Week 4 versus the Philadelphia Eagles. That cut out his training camp workouts, and Samuel ended up suffering other hamstring injuries throughout the regular season, too.

Samuel was far from the only training-camp casualty, as fellow wide receiver Jalen Hurd suffered another season-ending injury by tearing his ACL. Since entering the league after being selected in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft, Hurd has yet to record a regular-season snap. The SF 49ers had high hopes for Hurd as he continues to work his way back onto the field.

Now, his future is in doubt.