The 49ers wrapped up their 2024 campaign on the road against the Cardinals, and negative themes from the season were on full display in Week 18.
The offseason couldn't come soon enough for the 2024 version of the San Francisco 49ers.
A Week 18 showdown against the Niners' NFC West rivals, the Arizona Cardinals, featured a starting lineup that looked nothing like what head coach Kyle Shanahan deployed way back in Week 1. Quarterback Brock Purdy was held out with an elbow injury, while wide receiver Deebo Samuel was inactive. Of course, the Niners were already without left tackle Trent Williams and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk because of injuries suffered earlier in the year.
But, the nearly yearlong theme of losing players to injury was again on display.
San Francisco lost the game 46-24, ultimately finishing an underwhelming season with a lowly 6-11 record.
Yet the game did more to highlight many of the problems Shanahan and Co. encountered over the year.
Sure, backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs flashed some prowess in Purdy's absence, tossing a career-best 326 yards despite throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble. It was also nice seeing rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall make contributions, too, notching his third touchdown on the season.
That said, there was more bad than good.
Injuries plague 49ers' already-depleted lineup
The 49ers lost safety Talanoa Hufanga to a concussion and rookie defensive back Malik Mustapha to a knee injury, while fellow rookie Renardo Green went down with a groin injury.
That left the Niners secondary depleted to an extreme, and Arizona didn't hesitate to take full advantage of that, giving quarterback Kyler Murray the context to toss a season-high four touchdowns of his own.
Even worse, rookie running back Isaac Guerendo went down with knee and ankle injuries on only his second carry of the game, and he had to exit on the cart, which spells potential problems for his offseason development.
Of note, San Francisco has been forced to start five different running backs this season, the most in the NFL over 2024.
Penalties, penalties, penalties
The makeshift offensive and defensive lineups create plenty of problems. There's an understandable lack of chemistry between backups who don't see a lot of reps during practice.
There's also an increased likelihood of penalties.
The 49ers were slapped with 13 accepted penalties for 85 yards, while the Cardinals had only one for 5 yards. Of course, there were offsetting unnecessary roughness calls on back-to-back plays between Niners wide receiver Jauan Jennings and Arizona cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting that resulted in both players being ejected.
In Jennings' case, it cost him a shot at 1,000 yards receiving on the season, and he finished 25 yards short of the feat.
While Jennings shouldn't be judged for playing physical, the sheer amount of flags elsewhere highlight how the Niners have been an undisciplined and underperforming oft-injured unit for the bulk of the season.
A fitting end to an unfit 2024 campaign.