Niners fans looking for a ray of hope in a winless season can find it in a few areas.
They can see it in young players such as Reuben Foster, DeForest Buckner, George Kittle and C.J. Beathard. They can see it in a coach and general manager who have been given six-year deals, allowing them the time to tear down and build up a franchise in decline.
And, they can look to history.
As Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle pointed out this week, the only other 49ers team to start a season 0-7 was the 1979 edition coached by Bill Walsh, who two years later took San Francisco to its first Super Bowl championship.
That 1979 team, which finished 2-14, didn’t win its first game until Week 8, a 20-15 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. It then lost six in a row before beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and then closing the year with another loss.
Veteran Steve DeBerg was the team’s starting quarterback for 15 games, though a rookie named Joe Montana, a third-round pick, got some playing time late in the season – including one start – en route to earning the starting role in 1980 when the team improved to 6-10. A year later, Montana and Walsh guided the 49ers to a 13-3 record and a Super Bowl win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
From where the 49ers sit now, however, climbing to a Super Bowl championship two years from now seems like a fairy tale. Though San Francisco could have won a few games already – it had five straight losses of three points or less before being blown out by Dallas this past Sunday – the Niners still have huge holes to fill all across their roster. The offensive line, secondary and receiving corps all are weak spots, and the current rookie quarterback starter – also a third-round pick, like Montana – hasn’t yet shown he’s the quarterback of the future.
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Plus, the 49ers are more than likely to fall to new depths this Sunday, when they must travel to Philadelphia to take on the 6-1 Eagles, who lead the NFC East. No San Francisco team has ever started 0-8.
But head coach Kyle Shanahan has said this season isn’t so much about the team’s record as its development. Foster will start at linebacker Sunday in Philadelphia, as will Beathard, who took his lumps vs. Dallas. Shanahan says Beathard has to use these tough times as a learning experience.
“He’s a tough kid,” said Shanahan. “By no means was he perfect (vs. Cowboys). He did make some plays in the game and there were some he missed, too. It was similar to last week. I think he’ll learn from those. I think he came out early, got settled down a little bit as we got going. Unfortunately we didn’t keep the score close to keep them in it and stick with some of the stuff we wanted to do.”
Sunday’s game in Philadelphia will kick off at 10 a.m. in the Bay Area.
