49ers overreactions: Has Shanahan's Super Bowl window closed?

This was not the 49ers’ season.

Sometimes it’s just that simple.

The vibes were not there. It was a bizarre training camp with a couple of their key players embroiled in contract disputes. Other key players were injured. Their first-round draft pick got lucky when he survived a shooting incident.

Then, the 2024 NFL season started and the 49ers uncharacteristically let some big leads to NFC West opponents get away.

The 49ers never looked like a playoff team.

Now, they look like one of the worst teams — if not the worst team — in the entire NFL.

Coming off the team’s 35-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night, we asked the good folks on Bluesky for their reactions to the current state of the team.

Oh, yeah, there might’ve been an overreaction sprinkled in there, too.

Running CMC 90% of the snaps and underutilizing Mason directly led to his knee injury — @dkny.bsky.social

Overreaction? Yes.

When Christian McCaffrey went down Sunday night with an injury, the initial fear was that something bad happened to either of the Achilles tendons that plagued him from the offseason through the first eight weeks of the season.

Instead, it was an injury to the posterior cruciate ligament of his right knee.

This was not a wear-and-tear injury. It was more or less a freak injury, and it was another stroke of bad luck in a season that has gone horribly wrong for the 49ers in every imaginable way.

McCaffrey does not require surgery on his knee, so that’s some good news. But he will go on injured reserve, and his season is over.

Up to that point in the game, McCaffrey looked much like the player who won the NFL Offensive Player of the Year last season. He had six carries for 58 yards. He looked crisp and explosive.

But the way he was tripped up at the end of a long run or the way he landed caused the injury.

Jordan Mason did a fine job as the 49ers’ starter while McCaffrey was out of the lineup through the first half of the season. But can we acknowledge that he’s not McCaffrey? When McCaffrey is right, he’s on a different level. And it looked as if he was finally right — before he sustained the injury.

Injuries can happen at any time to any player. Mason dealt with physical issues this season, too, including a shoulder injury. And he now has a high ankle sprain and is going on IR, too.

While they were both healthy, the 49ers would have loved to get Mason more playing time, but they did not put together long drives and control those games. Therefore, McCaffrey was fully capable of playing a high percentage of snaps.

The 49ers’ medical and athletic training staff cleared McCaffrey for a full return, so the 49ers used him in a way they figured would give them their best chance at winning games.

Sure, we can debate whether the 49ers should have subbed in Mason for a couple more plays here or a couple more plays there. But McCaffrey’s injury had nothing to do with his usage in the three games leading up to Sunday night against the Bills.

They cannot pay Purdy 60 [million dollars].  Maybe a Baker prove it deal — @davew8900.bsky.social

Overreaction? Yes.

Brock Purdy is going to get paid in the offseason. He should get paid. He has earned it.

It might not be $60 million per season, but it’s going to be significant. But it will certainly not be a one-year prove-it contract, such as the one Baker Mayfield originally signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Purdy already has proved it. He led the NFL in a few passing categories and finished fourth in the MVP voting for the 2023 season. And he came oh-so-close to leading his team to a Super Bowl title in his first full season as the starter. The 49ers are 4-2 in postseason games with Purdy. And one of those losses is when he sustained the elbow injury early in the NFC Championship Game in Philadelphia.

The 49ers and Purdy should get together this offseason on a deal that works for both sides. Purdy will go from being one of the lowest-paid players in the NFL to one of the game’s highest-paid stars. And the 49ers will have their quarterback locked up for the long term.

Purdy, most likely, will not match or exceed the $60 million annual salary the Dallas Cowboys paid Dak Prescott. But his next deal easily could be in excess of $50 million a year.

At $50 million a year, that contract would drop him into the same company as Joe Burrow, Jordan Love, Trevor Lawrence, Tua Tagovailoa, Jared Goff, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts.

And that seems about right for an established starter who played his first three NFL seasons on a minimum contract.

Nick Sorensen will be replaced by Jeff Ulbrich — @deets-meatshield.bsky.social

Overreaction? No.

Coach Kyle Shanahan, general manager John Lynch and CEO Jed York will get together and map out their strategy for the offseason.

The organization must decide what path to take with the roster and coaching staff. And one of the discussion points will be at defensive coordinator.

If the 49ers decide to move on from Nick Sorensen as defensive coordinator after one season, current New York Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich is the obvious choice.

Ulbrich is a Bay Area guy who played his entire career with the 49ers. Shanahan wanted Ulbrich a year ago but could not get him. He remained as the Jets’ defensive coordinator under Robert Saleh. When Saleh was the first coach of the NFL season to be fired, Ulbrich stepped into his current role.

It does not seem logical that Ulbrich will be back with the Jets in any role. Therefore, if the 49ers want him, they could get him.

This offseason, Ulbrich should be free to go anywhere. He has high admiration for Shanahan, and it could work out this time — if the 49ers opt to move on from Sorensen.

That the Shanahan title window has closed, unfortunately. — @chapmatic.bsky.social

Overreaction? Yes.

I don’t necessarily believe in championship windows for teams. And I certainly do not believe a coach has a window.

Now, make no mistake, it might never get as close for the 49ers than when they took two fourth-quarter leads and one more in overtime of the Super Bowl. That was the case in February against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The coach on the winning sideline was Andy Reid.

Maybe the Philadelphia Eagles thought Reid’s window closed when he was fired from that job after the 2012 season.

Reid’s window re-opened when he went to the Chiefs in 2013. Brett Veach was hired as general manager, then they landed quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Will Shanahan ever win a Super Bowl with the 49ers? Who knows.

Will he have to follow a similar path as Reid and move on to another team to get another chance? Again, nobody knows the answer to that, either.

Anything is possible, including the 49ers keeping the nucleus of their team together in the offseason. It's not too far-fetched to think that with some roster adjustments and a lot better luck, the 49ers could make another run in 2025.

Ricky Pearsall can’t get open. Looks like a first round bust. — @nickdamjanovic.bsky.social

Overreaction? Don’t do this to me.

If you’d asked me at the time of the 2024 NFL draft who the 49ers should have taken in the first round, the answer probably would have been wide receiver Ladd McConkey.

That was the opinion of a person I respect who has an impressive NFL background and remains well-schooled in the draft. And, sure enough, McConkey is crushing it as a rookie with the Los Angeles Chargers.

But something just does not feel right about criticizing the selection of Ricky Pearsall after all he has been through this year. So we’re not going to go there.

It’s unfair to make any blanket statements about Pearsall because there was so much working against him during his rookie season. He was the victim of an armed robbery attempt and a bullet passed through his chest and out his back just before the start of the regular season.

Before that, when Pearsall was on the field during the offseason program and training camp, he was impressive. And when he was cleared to return after being on the non-football injury list for the first six games, he got off to a promising start. 

Pearsall runs good routes, and I think he will be able to gain separation and make plays in this offense.

But, now, he has gone three consecutive games without a reception. Moreover, he has been targeted only two times in three games while playing 105 snaps.

Like a lot of other areas of this team, let’s write off Pearsall’s rookie season and start 2025 with a clean slate.

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