You make your own luck as the saying goes. If that’s the case, the 49ers have churned out nothing but bad results and sour luck has been a part of it.
The latest example? Pierre Garçon, the team’s best offensive player this season is done after a neck injury landed him on injured reserve. It’s the latest blow in a season that’s been comically unlucky and increases the chances the 49ers could go winless.
Other developments that make you believe the 2017 season was born under an unlucky star:
Consider that the team has lost two games with horrendous calls at game’s end. Trent Taylor’s phantom push off in the final second of the 41-39 loss to the Rams was a beauty. But not nearly as bad as the offensive pass interference call near the conclusion of the 26-24 defeat in Washington. The play was called against former Redskin Garçon and might have been the worst call anyone has seen in several years.
The pass was intended for Garçon and pass interference was called on a “pick” play. The definition of pick is when a player obstructs a defender’s path to player receiving a pass. By definition, Garçon couldn’t have thrown a pick because the path was intended for him.
As 49ers play-by-play voice Ted Robinson said on KNBR, the officials at least should have met and discussed the play to find out what happened. Quarterback C.J. Beathard rejoiced when he saw the flag, believing it was pass interference and the 49ers would have the ball at the Washington 30, which would have been in field goal range. Instead, inexplicably, the play went against the 49ers.
And granted NFL schedule makers have a tough task to make things fair, but scheduling four East Coast trips in three weeks with teams coming off of bye weeks for the 49ers just seems like bad scheduling. Kyle Shanahan admitted he had to cut back on practice time to provide the team enough rest last week.
For a team with a constantly changing roster and a completely new offensive and defensive scheme, limiting practice is a big deal. Good luck or not, it’s obvious this team needs as many reps as it can get.
Then there’s injury, which could partially be the result of the schedule. When tired bodies collide, injuries occur. It’s no coincidence that injuries to five starters occurred in the final game of the brutal East Coast stretch.
The team was so ravaged on the offensive line, coaches pulled tight end Garrett Celek aside during halftime of the Eagles game and were teaching him pass sets. Celek nearly entered the game as an offensive tackle after injuries to Joe Staley, Trent Brown (who was concussed the week before) and Garry Gilliam (knee).
The defensive line has also gone through it, with Tank Carradine (ankle), Arik Armstead (hand), Aaron Lynch (calf) and Ronald Blair (thumb) all sustaining what look like long-term injuries. It’s forced the 49ers to rely on players like Leger Douzable and Tony McDaniel, who were plucked off the street.
In nearly three decades of covering the team, I’ve never seen so many injuries.
This is not to say the 49ers haven’t played a role in their own losing. Penalties, dropped passes, missed throws, and a stream of miscues have taken their toll. Nevertheless, good karma should be lining up for this team, because they’ve had plenty of the bad kind so far this season. That’s how karma works, right?