by Daisy Barringer
Remember a few weeks ago when the 49ers beat the Vikings 20-3 and we all thought, “Okay, so maybe this season isn’t going to be as much of a train wreck as we initially thought?” Yeah: that was really, really dumb of us. To be fair, I think most rational fans saw the Niners losing to Pittsburgh and ArizonaI naively thought we might be able to beat the Steelers because of their injuriesbut I don’t think any of us saw the 49ers getting totally and completely brutalized by both teams.
Alas, with yesterday’s embarrassing loss during which the Arizona Cardinals had their way with us, the new era of the San Francisco 49ers has officially arrived. And it’s all thanks to our friend and candidate for Worst Owner Ever: Jed York.
Okay, perhaps that’s not fair. Jed York isn’t the one who threw four interceptions, two of which were picked off for touchdowns in the first six minutes of the game. No, that honor goes to Colin Kaepernick who spent all summer in Arizona attempting (and apparently failing) to become a better quarterback. Instead, what happened is best summed up by Cardinals’ safety Tyrann Mathieu who intercepted Kap twice yesterday. How’d he do it? Well, according to Mathieu, the 49ers “passing game has just simplified so much, it was easy for us to anticipate routes, get some good breaks on the ball ”
Earlier this week, Kaepernick threw a little dig at Harbaugh saying this year he was being asked to be himself. “I’m not being asked to do things out of my capabilities,” he bragged. Considering what we saw of his “capabilities” yesterday, I think we can all agree that’s not a good thing. And listen Geep Chryst: when an opponent says your game has simplified so much that it’s no big deal for them to pick off your quarterback, you’re doing something really, really wrong. It’s your job to push Kap, not coddle him.
Jed York also wasn’t playing defense yesterday. Although, to be fair: neither was our actual defense. They allowed Carson Palmer to pass for 311 yards, Larry Fitzgerald to get 9 catches for 134 yards and 2 TDs, and Chris Johnson to run for 110 yards on 22 attempts with 2 TDs. There were literally no improvements from their dismal performance against the Steelers.
And no, Jed York wasn’t actually on the sidelines coaching, but he might as well have been since he’s the one responsible for putting Jim Tomsula, Geep Chryst, and Eric Mangini in their positions and since all of them are failing miserably at their jobs. Yes, it was nice of Tomsula to take responsibility for the loss, but that fact of the matter is: he’s in over his head. And so he’d better get used to making those post-game apologizes because the chance of getting one from the owneryou know: the guy who PUT him in this position for which he was totally unqualifiedis slim to none. After all, York only publicly apologizes when he’s about to oust a beloved head coach with a winning record.
No, Jed York wasn’t actually on the field or sidelines for any of yesterday’s debacle, but ultimately, it does come down to him. He owns this team. He is the one who got us to this point. (I believe some of the retirements were a direct result of his offseason decisions.) Last December, after he broke our hearts by firing Harbaugh, York asked fans to hold him accountable. Murph on KNBR asked him exactly how we should do that. York didn’t really have an answer. He said he’d “love to hear from fans,” and yet he didn’t provide us way in which to do so. “You can decide the best way to communicate that with me,” he told Murph. And yet, what he needs to do is TELL us how to communicate that with him. His name was trending on Twitter during the game yesterday, but you get the sense that he isn’t checking that because who on earth wants to read tweets from thousands of people calling for your head? Still, he did ASK to be held accountable. And I think fans want to do so. I just don’t know how to go about it.
People have suggested I stop going to games. Because of the way SBLs work, I have to buy my season tickets or I lose my entire investment. So if I a.) Don’t go to games or b.) Don’t renew my season tickets, the only person losing, literally, is me. Jed York has my money; he could not care less if I am actually at the game or not. The truth is: there IS no way to hold Jed York accountable. Because all Jed York cares about is money. And he already has all of ours. (The 49ers are the 5th highest valued NFL team and last year’s profit was $124M.)
So here we are, fans of a football team that has no idea what it’s doing on all sides: offense, defense, special teams (nice return by Hayne yesterday, but still), and coaching. A few years ago, we thought this team was going to be good for a while. We had a healthy mix of young guys and veterans. We had one of the toughest defenses in the NFL. We had Harbaugh. And we had a quarterback who was apparently soooooo much better than Alex Smith.
What do we have now? A team we can’t count on for anything except three more months of miserable Sundays.
Next week: Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers come into San Francisco for what’s certain to be another double digit loss. Can’t wait.
