The San Francisco 49ers got absolutely blown out by the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night.
The Niners had a heck of a run despite countless injuries, but they also learned some painful truths in the process.
Offense was not good enough
Late in the regular season, the 49ers seemed to have an absolute juggernaut on offense. Quarterback Brock Purdy was playing arguably the best football of his career, and it looked like no one could stop them.
Looking back, that may have had more to do with playing against bad teams than it did with the Niners being so unstoppable as an offensive unit. They were good to be sure, but the Seahawks embarrassed them twice in a span of three weeks, which shows they need to make some changes.
Injuries played a role, yes. Missing tight end George Kittle and having left tackle Trent Williams and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall at less than 100 percent did not help, but even with those guys at full strength, the game still would have been a slaughter.
Seattle's defense has exposed the flaws in the 49ers offense, and they are going to have to make some changes and add some players as a result.
The defense is a mess
Yes, the injuries to the defense throughout the season did play a big role in this. But the Niners still need to overhaul things on defense. Seattle had its way running the ball against San Francisco in each of the last two contests.
The Niners need to dictate the line of scrimmage going forward, and that means adding more players up front and coaching them well, which may be difficult to do if defensive coordinator Robert Saleh departs for a head coaching job.
Injuries are not going anywhere
It would be easy to dismiss San Francisco's injury issues as a fluke and pretend like everyone will be healthy again next season, but 49ers fans know that is not the case.
While 2025 was excessive, the Niners are one of the most banged-up teams in the NFL year after year. Blame electrical substations or some Monkey Paw wish that Eddie DeBartolo Jr. made, but whatever it is, the 49ers are a perennially injured team.
They're already likely going to be without Kittle for all of 2026.
Once in a blue moon, the 49ers will get fairly lucky with injuries as they did in 2023, but injuries have to be baked into the equation with this team.
San Francisco still has a lot ot be proud of in 2025. The team made it further than many people would have thought, given how much adversity it faced.
Yet, the Niners have to address these painful truths ahead of next season if they want to finally win a Super Bowl after a 30-year drought.