The San Francisco 49ers came moderately close to springing an upset of the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, and as we look back on the game, there was a familiar feeling to it. With 10:19 left in the fourth quarter, the 49ers were tied with the Cardinals 13-13. They punted the ball, but the defense had looked strong enough that the game did not seem entirely out of reach. It was at that point that I tweeted these two things:
If the 49ers lose this game, it will further serve to confirm this is the Singletary era all over again.
— Niners Nation (@NinersNation) November 29, 2015
Hell, if they win it probably still counts as Singletary era redux
— Niners Nation (@NinersNation) November 29, 2015
The 49ers stumbled late, thanks in part to some shoddy officiating, but also their own struggles in execution. The 49ers got the ball back late, down 20-13, but came up just short of converting a 4th and 20 to keep their hopes alive.
And just like that, we are firmly back in the Mike Singletary era.
I know I was not the only person having these thoughts, and Tim Kawakami even went into some detail discussing the notion that this is similar to the Singletary era. TK nailed the details on the head, so I would recommend giving his article a read. The general idea is that this is a mediocre team with QB drama that does better at home than on the road, but still frequently come up short.
Is there really any other way to describe what is going on with this team right now? It is obviously not a perfect comp, but it's close enough to be really disconcerting.