49ers mailbag: Will the NFL reseed the playoffs? Is Jed York improving as an owner?
Something strange happened Monday.
The 49ers, tied with the best record in the NFL (10-2) and the best point differential in the NFC (plus-166), dropped from the No. 1 seed in the conference to No. 5.
That’s because the Seattle Seahawks moved ahead of them in the NFC West standings with their 37-30 victory on “Monday Night Football” over the Minnesota Vikings. Seattle improved to 10-2 and own the tiebreaker after beating the 49ers last month.
Ultimately, San Francisco controls its own destiny over the rest of the season. If the team wins out, or wins more games than Seattle over the final four weeks, including their trip to play the Seahawks the last game of the season, they could reclaim the division with a chance at a top seed, a first-round bye and home-field advantage.
With that, let’s get to your mailbag from Florida as the 49ers stay in the Sunshine state before Sunday’s pivotal match up against the New Orleans Saints (10-2).
Sam Church asks: Do you think the league will seriously consider reseeding the playoffs?
I doubt it, though it’s been on the mind of 49ers brass since the last time they went to the postseason after the 2013 campaign.
That year, San Francisco was a wild card team at 12-4 and had the same or better record than the winners of the NFC East (Eagles, 10-6), NFC North (Packers, 8-7-1) and NFC South (Panthers, 12-4).
The 49ers finished second in the NFC West behind the Seahawks, who went 13-3, which meant playing a road game during the wild card round against the Packers at frigid Lambeau Field, despite having a drastically better season than Green Bay. That was the game a sleeveless Colin Kaepernick guided a game-winning field goal drive in the final moments.
One 49ers executive argued a wild card team with a better record than a division winner, particularly one with four more wins over 16 games, should get a home game during the first round of the playoffs, though the seeding wouldn’t be changed.
It’s a valid point considering the NFC West is currently the only division in the league featuring three teams with winning records. The lousy NFC East is being led by a team that’s .500.
If the season ended today (breaking news: it does not), the 49ers would have to play the 6-6 Dallas Cowboys or the Philadelphia Eagles (5-7), whichever team ends up winning the NFC East.
More importantly, the 49ers wouldn’t get a first-round bye or any playoff home games without winning the division.
But the NFL isn’t likely to shift the importance away from winning the division. There are six divisional games each year for that exact reason.
It makes division games important, and thus creates competitive rivalries that help the league thrive. Could they tinker with the idea of shifting a home game, say, if a wild card team is at least two games better in the win column than the division winner? It wouldn’t be the worst idea.
Just don’t expect a drastic reseeding until, perhaps, the league makes changes in the formula by adding a seventh playoff team in each conference, which may eliminate a first-round bye for the No. 2 seed, in the new collective bargaining agreement that could come after the current one expires following 2020.
Peter Moreira asks: One guy who seems to have been ignored in the Niners love-fest this year is Jed York. Has he grown as an owner and will perceptions of him change?
Winning can cure just about anything.
York was in his early 30s during the tumultuous Jim Harbaugh saga, making him an infant relative to owners throughout the league. Like any player, he had the ability to improve. And he definitely has.
York has admitted to the mistakes he made during the Harbaugh era. Plus Harbaugh’s five-year run at Michigan, that includes an 0-5 record against Ohio State and never being a true national championship contender, adds to the argument the 49ers roster carried more of the load than Harbaugh’s coaching during his run of success.
York’s biggest mistakes, obviously, were following up Harbaugh with Jim Tomsula, and sticking with general manager Trent Baalke as long as he did.
His best decision was to hire Kyle Shanahan and allow him to select John Lynch as his general manager. That pair is flourishing and the 49ers seem to be set up for long-term success.
But York won’t be truly vindicated from his mistakes until the team wins another Super Bowl. That’s the standard the organization set in the 1980s and ’90s, and the one York is holding himself to.
Karen Guacamole asks: Could we see more Marcell Harris against N.O.?
There’s definitely a chance.
Starting strong safety Jaquiski Tartt fractured a rib when Ravens running back Mark Ingram’s slammed into his side on the second play of the third quarter on Sunday.
Shanahan indicated Monday it will be a pain tolerance issue for Tartt going forward. Rib injuries are usually painful, but not always limiting. Emmanuel Sanders has been playing through a rib cartilage injury in recent weeks, though it’s improved by getting treatment and not taking contact at practice.
We’ll know more as the week goes on.
If Harris has to play, the 49ers feel confident he could step in and play at serviceable level. He started five games late last season and played well in Tartt’s place on Sunday, which included a momentum-changing strip of Lamar Jackson moments after Tartt’s departure. It was Jackson’s first fumble of his MVP-caliber season.
Casey asks: Don’t want to be the stink bug in the room, but to what extent does Coach Shanahan’s decisions contribute to these two losses? After this Viking meltdown in Seattle, every game matters.
Shanahan’s the key decision-maker at just about every level, so every loss falls on him to some extent.
Against Seattle, not running the ball on the final series certainly cost him. He wasn’t helped by Dante Pettis dropping a pass that would have led to more time coming off the clock, perhaps enough to ensure the 49ers would have been the last team with the ball.
Pettis has been a major disappointment in his second season, which also falls on Shanahan. Pettis was Shanahan’s pick, but no one has a perfect draft record.
It’s hard to say if Shanahan’s play calling was to blame for not getting the fourth-down conversion midway through the fourth quarter in Baltimore before the Ravens’ game-winning drive. Had it been a completion over the middle to George Kittle, and not an incompletion caused by Chris Wormley’s deflection at the line of scrimmage, we’d be talking about it differently.
It’s also fair to question Shanahan’s decision-making at the end of the first half before Robbie Gould’s 51-yard miss. It appeared Shanahan decided against trying to push the ball downfield when Sanders was called for a block in the back, but then San Francisco got a long Raheem Mostert run after letting some 40 seconds tick off the clock.
It appeared Shanahan just wanted to kill clock and ensure the Ravens wouldn’t get the ball back, but Mostert’s first-down run changed the complexion of the drive.
Shawnluke15 asks: I really believe that Daniel Brunskill might be the better option going forward instead of Joe Staley. What do you think?
Hard disagree.
Staley did not play well in his one game back against Seattle after fracturing his leg in September. But the feeling is he returned too soon.
Staley admitted recently the leg was still bothering him, considerably, and it led to his back seizing up to compensate, which dramatically hindered his movement.
Having finger surgery, while necessary, gave Staley’s leg some more time to heal. I’m expecting him to play at his normal level when he returns, which is much higher than Brunskill’s. Though Brunskill has played well this season and been a nice story.
He’s just not better than Staley. I’m betting Staley proves that over the final month of the season.
