Through the season’s first three games, San Francisco has easily been the most disappointing team in the league, with an 0-3 start coming courtesy of two disastrous efforts on the road in Seattle and Kansas City, sandwiched around a heartbreaking loss at home to New Orleans on Monday Night Football.
While that hasn’t led to wholesale changes in the front office and on the field as of yet, the tell tale signs of a ship on its way to the bottom have begun to manifest themselves, starting with the 49ers firing of their offensive coordinator, Jimmy Raye, this past week, and now on to veteran players openly criticizing the management of the team.
According to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com, when San Francisco left for their road game in Atlanta, they did so without starting strong safety Michael Lewis, who took leave from the team for a personal issue and has refused to return for the time being.
When pressed on his client’s decision to leave the team, Lewis’ agent, Rodney Williams, lashed out at the 49ers management, openly questioning the direction of the team and their inability to put together a coherent plan of action to fix the many problems plaguing the franchise right now.
Lewis requested his release from the club, after being told his playing time would be reduced significantly to give rookie safety Taylor Mays an opportunity to show what he’s capable of doing on the field. According to Lewis, that message contradicted what he was informed of earlier in the week, as the 49ers assured him that his status as a starter would not change.
The departure of Lewis leaves San Francisco’s defense without a clear leader in their secondary, and that certainly won’t help them this week when they square off against one of the league’s best young quarterbacks in the Falcons’ Matt Ryan, who is fully capable of picking them apart if given the time to do so.
It also raises significant questions as to the future of a franchise that just a few weeks ago was thought to be the clear cut favorite to take over the NFC West and dominate it en route to a deep playoff run. Finding a way to put the team back on track in the coming weeks will very likely determine head coach Mike Singletary’s continued existence with the club, as he’ll undoubtedly be on his way out if he’s incapable of showing some measure of improvement by the end of the year.
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Written by Chris Kolb
Topics: San Francisco 49ers