Kayte Christensen: 'The 49ers Are Moronic'
It's really hard for the former athlete in me to admit this, but the 49ers are moronic; and just slow down all you Niners fans before you lash out at me through blinded fandom – you're about to agree with me.
The 1-13 49ers went into their Week 16 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams knowing that the Cleveland Browns finally won a game moving them to 1-14.
Cleveland avoided matching the bottom dweller 2008 Detroit Lions that went 0-16 with a win over the Chargers on Saturday. Then the 49ers, who could've potentially finished the season with an identical record, messed around and got a win.
Losing on purpose is something that goes against my DNA. Players don't operate that way. Our minds are hard wired for competition. That's why general managers and coaches are paid the big bucks to make the tough decisions - in this case losing - because it's better for their franchise in the long run.
Seeing San Francisco celebrate after that 2-point conversion was something to behold. It made me feel that rush of winning that I've been away from for 10 years. I was genuinely happy for those guys out on the field, and furious with the morons that let it get to that point.
Did I mention that if the 49ers and Browns had both finished the season 1-15 that it would've been San Francisco that got the first pick in the draft?
Ahhhh, there it is, common sense is trickling in. Something I cannot say happened for Trent Baalke, Chip Kelly or even Jed York. If your head coach and/or general manager can't figure out what needs to be done in a situation like this, then it damn well should have come from the top.
Before I continue let me just say: there are many ways to lose without actually taking the dignity out of the competition itself. Things like calling another guy's number because "you want to get a better look at him".
Bad teams do this all the time under the guise of letting the younger guys get a look so they can "evaluate" them further as they head into the off season and want to see how they may have improved or will fit in down the line.
I've actually been in a game where our head coach pulled our whole starting lineup in the 2nd half and sat us on the bench because they found out at half time another team lost in the final game of the season, effectively jeopardizing our chances at the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft.
None of us on the court knew or even thought that was what was happening. They didn't put us in the situation to know that we were out there playing to lose. They made the decision for us.
And it worked out. The No. 1 pick. Landing the best female basketball player to touch the court in decades, and maybe even since. Championships. Rings. The whole shebang.
All because someone well above my pay grade knew what the heck they were doing.
Yet for whatever reason, the 49ers don't appear to have a single person in their organization with the wherewithal to make that decision.
Some will say that making that decision doesn't guarantee anything. It's not a particularly strong draft. The 49ers are more than one guy away from being a good team and so on.
Yes all those things are true. But the real issue here is this; does the ownership, the general manager, or even the coach have the guts to do what almost every other organization in their shoes have done?
According to all reports Trent Baalke will be out at the end of the season and the 49ers will be shopping for a new general manager. I think a lot of us came to the conclusion that would probably be best quite some time ago.
But this whole debacle has me wondering if that's going to be enough. There are two other people who San Francisco fans should be questioning right now. One of them writes the checks, and the other one draws the plays up.
No matter which way you look at it, this organization is in free fall. Where is rock bottom going to be and how long will it take to pick up the pieces once it all comes crashing down?
