Bosa's Absence Hurts 49ers as Seahawks Crush Playoff Hopes with Game-Winning Drive

Nick Bosa’s absence loomed large during the Seattle Seahawks’ game-winning drive as the San Francisco 49ers dropped another close contest, falling to 5-5 on the season. George Kittle's absence was also significant, however the defensive struggles were enough to seal the deal for Seattle on this week’s matchup.

The 49ers’ struggles without their star tight end Kittle, and the defensive dominance of Bosa have both been highly publicized, and though the stats show both have impacted the team significantly, some fans still disregard their importance. However it’s clear that it’s more than just these two critical positions when it comes to why San Francisco is struggling.

There is more that the 49ers need to do as they head into the final stretch of their season. With seven games left and a crowded NFC Wild Card picture, San Francisco won’t make it to the playoffs without significant and targeted improvement. In reality, with head-to-head tiebreakers holding significant weight, their margin for error is small, and their chances for making the playoffs in the crowded NFC are getting smaller each day.

The close games have become increasingly familiar for the 49ers, who find themselves 5-5 with the holidays nearing. While their team is constantly in games due to their stingy defense and explosive special teams, as fans we know that each loss takes them another step closer to being on the outside of the playoffs once again.

So far the team has a frustrating pattern of losing close games versus contending football teams. After having an incredible slate of games in 2019, the final stretch of 2020 was unfortunately the opposite with the 49ers finishing near last in the standings. The final stretch of this season needs to be drastically different or we can expect San Francisco to miss out on a Wild Card bid.

This week the San Francisco 49ers must somehow retool and flip their mentality as it relates to being in close football games. Some sort of change needs to be made - if not the staff we will certainly see players shifted around to better identify what isn’t working and how to address those needs over the coming length of their regular season schedule.

San Francisco has an off day prior to next week’s matchup with Miami as they attempt to figure out what will ultimately best suit them to succeed this year. The result versus the Dolphins Sunday brings optimism about another possibly favorable schedule down the stretch where four of their last seven games on paper appear winnable, including against Bears rookie QB Justin Fields and a suddenly unprepared Vikings team.