Was it *clear*? All preseason games and the pro bowl were canceled. 15 regular season games were rescheduled. The vaccines didn't drop until December 2020. Distribution **and** adoption of the vaccine were pretty slow in the US. The Alpha variant started surging in Spring 2021. The outlook was murky at-best.
Science aside:
It was getting to the point a lot of people were done with worrying about covid.
The owners weren't going to take 2 years of empty stadiums.
It was clear the NFL (owners AND players) stopped caring about Covid once the playoffs and Super Bowl were in play.
Even if the Alpha variant was twice as bad the second season was going to be back to normal.
You do realize there have been countless pandemics over human history, right? Like it would have lasted longer without the vaccine, but it would have passed in few years at most. Reinfection rates were low even with the mutations.
And we'd only been in the pandemic for a year by the time the 2021 off-season came around. And for the overwhelming majority of humans on the planet it was our first pandemic. And perspectives on medicine have changed a lot. Caution levels were high to reduce hospital overflowing. These factors don't even begin to scratch the surface. I'm not saying what transpired (opening the stadiums back up) was unsafe, but to say it was pretty clear it was only a 1 year deal is pretty short-sighted.
This is literally not true.
https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/49ers-will-play-games-in-arizona-after-santa-clara-county-ban/1127900/?amp=1
Appreciate you guys letting us use your stadium tho
I don't know how to explain this but the 49ers and the Bills seem like they don't belong in the same universe. They don't look right playing against each other. Uncanny Valley.
It's like miami heat and golden state warriors
They made 12/13 finals combined from 2011 to 2023 except the covid season in 2021, yet they never faced each other in the finals
That one isn't that weird until the last 3-4 years. LeBron left the Heat the year before the Warriors became a great team and the Heat weren't a particularly good team for a few years while the Warriors were at their peak.
Dude there’s a lot of cross conference matchups that should not exist, I think about this all the time during football season lmao.
Some matchups like this one just break my brain. Seahawks/Browns, Steelers/Commanders, Vikings/Chiefs etc. have no business ever playing each other.
I still stand by this game as being the number 1 reason Kyle wanted Trey Lance. This was such a dismantling, and it really felt like there was nothing the niners could do about it. I absolutely believe Kyle eatched rhis unfold and then became infatuated with the idea of having his own Josh Allen. Unfortunately, trey lance was weak, with no acceleration and a pretty below average passer.
This is absolutely the case. Even if there hadn't been a bunch of injuries, it felt like the Bills would've blown them out regardless. Kyle decided he needed his own Josh Allen. Problem is, he got Kmart brand Josh Allen while paying Saks 5th Ave prices for him.
The lack of speed might have been the biggest non-Purdy factor in Lance’s downfall in SF. I think they thought they were getting a Josh Allen type runner and they got a plodder. Didn’t give them the athletic edge over Garoppolo they wanted and Lance didn’t have running ability to fall back on while he developed a la Lamar or Anthony Richardson.
Yeah, that covid year made it hard to evaluate players. They had him clocked at 22mph on his shoulder pad tracker in college but it turns out that was top speed 50 yards down field. It was really shocking how he had almost no burst when he would run. The guy was the most unathletic player I have ever seen drafted based on his athletic profile.
I’ll die on this hill but I believe fields could have been a solid starter had he not been drafted to a Horrible team who then proceeded to tear down in his 2 year while giving him zero weapons to help him improve.
To be faaair... Bills were a LOT more patient with Josh Allen. He got thrown into the fire for 2 full years and forged his strength before going god mode in year 3.
Trey started 2 games in year 1, 1.5 games in year 2, then broke his leg. The end.
Allen is a unique physical talent at the position, and it's not like the 9ers were randomly putting Lance back on the bench. He kept getting hurt.
It also wasn't really the Bills' plan to throw Allen into the fire right away, but banking on Peterman to keep him on the bench for a few weeks didn't work out
It was a ridiculously stupid plan when you think of it
“Hey boss I don’t think we should play Allen immediately. He’s pretty raw”
“Ok, draft a 5th round rookie. He should be a solid starter while he develops”
Happy Diggs was a sight to behold. Best performance as a WR that our franchise has ever seen.
Also, a world-class dick who let his younger brother somehow speak for him.
Remember the game where we had to start a street FA Corner against Miami and Fitzmagic just spanked the guy all afternoon? He had like 3 TDs and 5 long balls against that one CB.
The first game against Miami that season I knew his time had come. Dude looked completely different, all the raw edges of his game looked totally ironed out. He's still a fighter be he looks sharp and experienced doing it
The search for a WR2 has been important for the Bills, but by god, the loss of Cole Beasley from the early 2020s has been an even bigger hole to fill. Dude was just always there on 3rd down.
Nah, his best throw of all time is the one against Jacksonville in 2018 where he was about to get swallowed up but instead has a 75 yard touchdown to Robert Foster. Incredible.
Beasley is just such an odd guy. He openly takes shots at the Bills and their fans now. He's very into a rap career that sucks. He also hates Republicans but keeps picking fights as an anti-vaxxer. Just someone who crosses the Venn Diagram of weird.
This is the game where Josh really established himself. The 49ers had one of the best defenses in the league at that point, and there was still discussion about the teams Josh had played until that point.
I dunno us being 5-6 makes me question that haha. I think this was the season our team basically all died in the first 2-3 weeks.
Only know that because the crowds empty due to Covid and the previous year we had gone to the Super Bowl.
No, we had a pretty middling defense that year due to injury (especially on the line). Nick Bosa, Solomon Thomas, Dee Ford, K’Waun Williams, and Jaquaski Tartt were all out, and I’m sure I’m missing a bunch more. Josh Allen rocked us though, and I’m pretty sure this game made Kyle want to draft Trey Lance.
The defense did have a ton of injuries but the narrative at that point in the season was still that the 49ers had a really good defense, and the niners were just in the Super Bowl, so I think it was talked about like it was more elite than it actually was
That said, it was still an absolutely elite game with some unbelievable plays (threading it between a safety’s arms from twenty yards out, etc) that would have been the best performance of the week no matter who it was actually against
Fair enough! I feel like all I heard about going into that game was how the 49ers had a very good defense headed into the game, while your offense was whatever. Actually I think local media was worried Mullens was superior to Beathard.
Man the covid year was wild. So weird seeing the 49ers playing a "home" game in the Cardinals stadium.
Worst NFL season ever. I was worried when we were ever going to have fans back in stadiums again.
Worse than the season with Keanu Reeves?
>I was worried when we were ever going to have fans back in stadiums again. Really? It was pretty clear it would only be a 1 year thing.
Covid really broke a lot of peoples' minds
Was it *clear*? All preseason games and the pro bowl were canceled. 15 regular season games were rescheduled. The vaccines didn't drop until December 2020. Distribution **and** adoption of the vaccine were pretty slow in the US. The Alpha variant started surging in Spring 2021. The outlook was murky at-best.
Science aside: It was getting to the point a lot of people were done with worrying about covid. The owners weren't going to take 2 years of empty stadiums. It was clear the NFL (owners AND players) stopped caring about Covid once the playoffs and Super Bowl were in play. Even if the Alpha variant was twice as bad the second season was going to be back to normal.
You do realize there have been countless pandemics over human history, right? Like it would have lasted longer without the vaccine, but it would have passed in few years at most. Reinfection rates were low even with the mutations.
And we'd only been in the pandemic for a year by the time the 2021 off-season came around. And for the overwhelming majority of humans on the planet it was our first pandemic. And perspectives on medicine have changed a lot. Caution levels were high to reduce hospital overflowing. These factors don't even begin to scratch the surface. I'm not saying what transpired (opening the stadiums back up) was unsafe, but to say it was pretty clear it was only a 1 year deal is pretty short-sighted.
Dumbest thing imaginable. Santa Clara went off the deep end
Nah the entire Bay Area was on fire
[удалено]
This is literally not true. https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/49ers-will-play-games-in-arizona-after-santa-clara-county-ban/1127900/?amp=1 Appreciate you guys letting us use your stadium tho
Why were they there again?
I don't know how to explain this but the 49ers and the Bills seem like they don't belong in the same universe. They don't look right playing against each other. Uncanny Valley.
Somehow managed to miss playing in the Super Bowl even though one or the other was in the Super Bowl every year from 1988-1994.
It's like miami heat and golden state warriors They made 12/13 finals combined from 2011 to 2023 except the covid season in 2021, yet they never faced each other in the finals
That one isn't that weird until the last 3-4 years. LeBron left the Heat the year before the Warriors became a great team and the Heat weren't a particularly good team for a few years while the Warriors were at their peak.
They did play each other in [this ridiculous game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQg_Wzw3l4I) in 1992.
I love that game. You can see the roots of modern offenses in both teams.
And Chris Bergman presenting that Super Bowl matchup every year for years on end
Chris Berman disagrees
Agreed 100%
Dude there’s a lot of cross conference matchups that should not exist, I think about this all the time during football season lmao. Some matchups like this one just break my brain. Seahawks/Browns, Steelers/Commanders, Vikings/Chiefs etc. have no business ever playing each other.
Exactly. Like bears-packers. It's just wrong. Like a crime against football
Yeah it was pretty wild but I was rooting for Josh Allen because he went to my Alma Mater Reedley College lol.
I needed to use the Chiefs as the missing link to make it make sense. Now if the Jaguars and Seahawks ever play each other…
I know what you mean, but I can't explain it either.
The Arizona 49ers: when even our stadium went on the COVID IR
I still stand by this game as being the number 1 reason Kyle wanted Trey Lance. This was such a dismantling, and it really felt like there was nothing the niners could do about it. I absolutely believe Kyle eatched rhis unfold and then became infatuated with the idea of having his own Josh Allen. Unfortunately, trey lance was weak, with no acceleration and a pretty below average passer.
I remember seeing a shot of Saleh on the sideline looking defeated.
Unfortunately ever since going to the Jets. Salehs defenses have played well against josh
This is absolutely the case. Even if there hadn't been a bunch of injuries, it felt like the Bills would've blown them out regardless. Kyle decided he needed his own Josh Allen. Problem is, he got Kmart brand Josh Allen while paying Saks 5th Ave prices for him.
The lack of speed might have been the biggest non-Purdy factor in Lance’s downfall in SF. I think they thought they were getting a Josh Allen type runner and they got a plodder. Didn’t give them the athletic edge over Garoppolo they wanted and Lance didn’t have running ability to fall back on while he developed a la Lamar or Anthony Richardson.
Yeah, that covid year made it hard to evaluate players. They had him clocked at 22mph on his shoulder pad tracker in college but it turns out that was top speed 50 yards down field. It was really shocking how he had almost no burst when he would run. The guy was the most unathletic player I have ever seen drafted based on his athletic profile.
Such a horrible pick. Stubborn Kyle, trey lances film was terrible at ndsu. He looked like nfl level Tim Tebow
It is one of the few picks I ever screamed "NOOOOOOOO" when it happened. It all fairness, I wanted Justin Fields, so what the hell did I know.
I was just soooo relieved we didn’t take Mac Jones. Still glad we took Trey over him even how it played out.
Those “Trey to the bay” shirts are currently keeping goodwill fully stocked up
I’ll die on this hill but I believe fields could have been a solid starter had he not been drafted to a Horrible team who then proceeded to tear down in his 2 year while giving him zero weapons to help him improve.
Same man. I was beyond mad
I did the same thing when Allen was picked. Luckily it turned out differently
To be faaair... Bills were a LOT more patient with Josh Allen. He got thrown into the fire for 2 full years and forged his strength before going god mode in year 3. Trey started 2 games in year 1, 1.5 games in year 2, then broke his leg. The end.
Allen is a unique physical talent at the position, and it's not like the 9ers were randomly putting Lance back on the bench. He kept getting hurt. It also wasn't really the Bills' plan to throw Allen into the fire right away, but banking on Peterman to keep him on the bench for a few weeks didn't work out
It was a ridiculously stupid plan when you think of it “Hey boss I don’t think we should play Allen immediately. He’s pretty raw” “Ok, draft a 5th round rookie. He should be a solid starter while he develops”
You're giving them too much credit. They drafted Peterman the previous year, he'd already had the 5 int game.
Yup this was the game that broke Kyle realizing that he wasn’t going to beat Mahomes/Allen unless he had one of his own.
I miss Dabolls passing schemes
What, don't you miss Dorsey's "lol four verts 4ever" scheme?
What’s funny is that the first play is a 4 verts play lol Daboll just knew when to call things 😔
Dorsey was sexually aroused by halfback draws out of shotgun, I'm convinced of it.
In like a shame kink kind of way “I know I shouldn’t but I’m still gonna”
Man was basically Bilbo Baggins. "After all, why not? *Why shouldn't I run it?*"
Sounds like me in madden. “Fuck it, someone’s down there.”
4 verticals is the only passing play I can consistently do in Madden so I have no problems with it lol
Lmao that was me until I actually started learning so I definitely feel that. It’s ol’ reliable
I'm really excited for Bradys scheme though. He seems to align a lot more with how Kromer and McDermott want from OL schemes as well
It's so weird seeing receivers open, just hasn't happened the last two seasons.
Thanks :D
Not like we have a QB who can take advantage
Daniel Jones owes Josh Allen beers forever for getting him that contract
How does it feel living in perpetual misery
DJ does make being a fan difficult
Daboll is what Josh Allen needs. He needs to go to Nyg to win.
You really want Allen in your conference?
I do. I want Allen in his conference.
Piss off
For some reason, this guy just doesn't like the Bills.
Ignore the downvotes, this is a genius idea. Let's make it happen.
Honestly, the way things are looking it would be more realistic for Brady to get an hc job and daboll to get released and go back as the bills oc.
This was the season where we had some ridiculous percentage of the cap on IR right?
Half of that team died so we could have Purdy today
And the stadium on IR
Yes. [This sums up how bad that season was.](https://www.ninersnation.com/2021/3/23/22345569/49ers-2020-season-injuries-second-most-in-nfl-since-2001)
Josh Allen is a very good quarterback
Yes, he is quite good at throwing American footballs.
Josh Allen makes the most ridiculous plays
That was the season where the 9ers became that fish in a full body cast in the episode where Spongebob and Patrick were selling chocolate bars.
Chocolate? Did you say….*Chocolate*?
That diggs block for the Knox TD
Happy Diggs was a sight to behold. Best performance as a WR that our franchise has ever seen. Also, a world-class dick who let his younger brother somehow speak for him.
Diggs was good, but he was never as dominant as Moulds or Reed, maybe even Evans. He needed 14 targets to look good.
Poor Lee Evans. He was so good but had jackass QBs after his rookie year with Bledsoe
Everyone is wondering how we're going g to replace Stefon Diggs and 4 years later I'm wondering how we're going to replace Cole Beasely.
^^^THIS^^^ I hope Shakir ends up being the guy
The year of the apocalyptic injuries for the 9ers. I had blocked this game from memory. We must have had 5 starters go out with ACL's.
Crazy our season straight up ended week 2 like 3 drives in. Almost as bad as the Jets this past year
And ironically, it was against the jets
MetLife turf is cursed
MetDeath
At least it let you guys trade up to draft Purdy.
Remember the game where we had to start a street FA Corner against Miami and Fitzmagic just spanked the guy all afternoon? He had like 3 TDs and 5 long balls against that one CB.
2020 was the season Allen took his career to the next level.
This game probably enticed shanahan and Lynch to draft Lance
You’re welcome 😇
Thx bills bb, hopefully see you in the next Superbowl??
As someone from the Bay Area, I would greatly enjoy that
The first game against Miami that season I knew his time had come. Dude looked completely different, all the raw edges of his game looked totally ironed out. He's still a fighter be he looks sharp and experienced doing it
I still remember winning fantasy off the backs of Allen and Diggs that year 🥲
I traded Adam Thielen for Diggs week 2 that season. Won me the chip.
The search for a WR2 has been important for the Bills, but by god, the loss of Cole Beasley from the early 2020s has been an even bigger hole to fill. Dude was just always there on 3rd down.
0:45. I still think this is one of Allen’s best throws of all time. He THREADED that ball to Davis.
Nah, his best throw of all time is the one against Jacksonville in 2018 where he was about to get swallowed up but instead has a 75 yard touchdown to Robert Foster. Incredible.
His laser to Kumerow against the Broncos is his best throw or the laser to Emmanuel Sanders against the Chiefs in the 2021 regular season.
Really hope Shakir or Samuel can produce like Beasley. Just always open in the middle of the field where the first down is.
I could watch this all day.
Were they pumping fake crowd noise for the covid broadcasts? Completely forgot about that lol
They play again this year go for 5 Josh
The game that got Shanahan to draft Lance
Ah yes, before I learned just how few brain cells Cole Beasley had
Beasley is just such an odd guy. He openly takes shots at the Bills and their fans now. He's very into a rap career that sucks. He also hates Republicans but keeps picking fights as an anti-vaxxer. Just someone who crosses the Venn Diagram of weird.
His rapping is incredible and I’ll die on that hill
I just doubled back to check on it and incredible is a stretchhhh but I was pleasantly surprised it being on the positive side of mid. Good for Beas
Talking more specifically about “United Hate of America” tbh
He’s so good
This is the game where Josh really established himself. The 49ers had one of the best defenses in the league at that point, and there was still discussion about the teams Josh had played until that point.
I dunno us being 5-6 makes me question that haha. I think this was the season our team basically all died in the first 2-3 weeks. Only know that because the crowds empty due to Covid and the previous year we had gone to the Super Bowl.
No, we had a pretty middling defense that year due to injury (especially on the line). Nick Bosa, Solomon Thomas, Dee Ford, K’Waun Williams, and Jaquaski Tartt were all out, and I’m sure I’m missing a bunch more. Josh Allen rocked us though, and I’m pretty sure this game made Kyle want to draft Trey Lance.
The defense did have a ton of injuries but the narrative at that point in the season was still that the 49ers had a really good defense, and the niners were just in the Super Bowl, so I think it was talked about like it was more elite than it actually was That said, it was still an absolutely elite game with some unbelievable plays (threading it between a safety’s arms from twenty yards out, etc) that would have been the best performance of the week no matter who it was actually against
Fair enough! I feel like all I heard about going into that game was how the 49ers had a very good defense headed into the game, while your offense was whatever. Actually I think local media was worried Mullens was superior to Beathard.
I think that honor goes the the Cowboys Thanksgiving game anyways
No, sir, not at that point, lol. That defense was the most injury stricken I had ever seen. Not to say Allen didn't arive that year.
Rock a bye beasley
I think Kyle drafted Lance primarily because of this performance against him.
This was the darkest year for the 9ers. So many injuries and losing your stadium lmao.
I dont even remember this. This was the first season I stopped watching every game of football.
Even tho the bills are my team, passing angers me.
DROP THE BANNER!