I won’t say I root for the San Francisco 49ers to the bitter end, but generally it’s pretty close to that. Personally, I don’t like rooting for them to lose until they have well and truly lost, and I think I hit that point just before Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams kicked off.
The Cleveland Browns won their game, shockingly, and that said to me that it was then absolutely okay to root for a 49ers loss so they could nab that top draft pick. But 49ers defensive back Rashard Robinson had something to say about that, and sealed the game in favor of San Francisco with a fourth quarter interception.
The 49ers don’t even know how to lose properly, you know that? I mean, we really do need to talk about this, even if the notion is a little ridiculous. No, the 49ers shouldn’t try to lose. No, there is no actual criticism you could levy against them for winning a football game. But it sure does suck that the day the Browns win, the 49ers also win to keep pace.
Who knows if the second pick instead of the first pick will make all the difference for the 49ers? All I know is it’s better to have the first than the second. It’s a little disheartening at the end of a season that broke my heart less than three games into it.
I feel good for the players. They needed a win, and I’m happy they got it. There are some good players on the 49ers roster, and they deserve a little gratification even if they have mostly lost games this season.
Colin Kaepernick threw a pair of touchdowns and an interception, and ran a touchdown in, which is neat. He played okay football, which has basically been the story since he took over for Blaine Gabbert. Just okay.
Carlos Hyde, unfortunately, sustained that injury and I really hope it’s not serious. I don’t care about Week 17 and him potentially breaking 1,000 yards, I just don’t want more serious trauma on his body at this point of his career.
All in all, a pretty mixed day at this point. The 49ers looked fine in a game that doesn’t matter, and a game in which they would probably have been better off with a loss.
Keep the postgame discussion going on in this here thread, folks.