It has been a rough 2024 NFL season for the 49ers -- and, in particular, a very rough two weeks.
After San Francisco's consecutive blowout losses in Weeks 12 and 13 to the Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills, respectively, the defending NFC champions now own a rather unfortunate page in the NFL record books, as pointed out by ESPN's Nick Wagoner.
#49ers are the first defending conference champion since the 1970 Merger to lose consecutive games by 25-plus points. https://t.co/Q32Dhq0sHW
— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) December 2, 2024
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The 49ers' 38-10 loss to the Packers at Lambeau Field last weekend and their 35-10 loss to the Bills at Highmark Stadium on Sunday marked the worst two-game stretch by a defending conference champion since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger. Backup quarterback Brandon Allen started the 49ers' loss to the Packers as Brock Purdy dealt with a shoulder injury, but the offense couldn't get anything done with Purdy back on the field in Sunday's loss to the Bills.
The latest defeat dropped San Francisco to 5-7 on the season, making a return to the NFL playoffs very unlikely for the team.
Per the "Sunday Night Football" broadcast, the loss in Buffalo was just the fourth time in 49ers history that the team fell by 25 or more points in consecutive games. The back-to-back demoralizing losses also were reminiscent of coach Kyle Shanahan's first season with the 49ers, where the team finished 6-10 (h/t the San Francisco Chronicle's Eric Branch).
The #49ers have lost their past two games by 53 points, matching their largest two-game total since they were blasted by the Cowboys (40-10) and Eagles (33-10) in consecutive weeks in 2017 to drop to 0-8 in Kyle Shanahan’s first season.
— Eric Branch (@Eric_Branch) December 2, 2024
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Of course, the 49ers ended Shanahan's first campaign in the Bay on a hot streak after acquiring quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo from the New England Patriots before the trade deadline.
Could they find similar momentum to finish this season strong as well? It remains to be seen, but San Francisco certainly will have to start putting more points on the board and allowing fewer touchdowns if the team wants any hope of returning to the postseason.
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