The 49ers couldn’t have gone into their bye week in much worse shape. They were banged up and struggling with three consecutive losses after a 5-0 start. To make matters worse, they had similar issues in all three defeats with their run game struggling and their defense failing to affect the quarterback and get key stops.
A week off should help kickstart a turnaround, and history is on their side in a quest to regain the form they had to start the year.
Under head coach Kyle Shanahan the 49ers have almost always been better after the bye than before, accumulating a 16-30 record (.347 winning percentage) before the break, and a 36-16 record (.692 winning percentage) after it.
Here’s how they’ve looked before and after the bye week in each season under Shanahan:undefined
2017
Pre-bye: 1-9 (.100)
Post-bye: 5-1 (.833)
Jimmy Garoppolo’s arrival flipped an abysmal 2017 campaign on its ear. Their lone loss after their Week 11 bye was the Week 12 game started by QB CJ Beathard.
2018
Pre-bye: 2-8 (.200)
Post-bye: 2-4 (.333)
This season was doomed the moment Garoppolo tore his ACL in Week 3. That they tallied a couple wins after the bye week was a small miracle given the state of their roster. There was also a narrow home loss to the Bears in that post-bye stretch as well where San Francisco’s depleted roster hung with an eventual playoff team.
2019
Pre-bye: 3-0 (1.000)
Post-bye: 10-3 (.769)
San Francisco’s bye week probably played a minimal role in its scorching hot start to the 2019 campaign. They came out 3-0, then ripped off five straight after the bye before losing to the Seahawks at home in Week 10. However, their first four games after the break saw them go 4-0 and they outscored their opponents 111-23 in those four contests.
2020
Pre-bye: 4-6 (.400)
Post-bye: 2-4 (.333)
The pandemic season was a mess, and it’s the only year under Shanahan where the 49ers were worse after the bye than they were before it. Injuries started stacking up early, and then they were forced to play their last few home games on the road in Arizona due to pandemic restrictions enacted by Santa Clara County.
2021
Pre-bye: 2-3 (.400)
Post-bye: 8-4 (.667)
This was the first of consecutive late-season runs that helped the 49ers punch a playoff ticket after struggling out of the gate. Interestingly, in 2021 they lost two of their first three coming off the bye week before rattling off seven-of-nine to close the season at 10-7 while securing a playoff berth with a Week 18 victory over the Rams.
2022
Pre-bye: 4-4
Post-bye: 9-0
Last season was what the 49ers are hoping to replicate this year, although their schedule is significantly tougher down the stretch. Part of the reason the team might harken back to last season is because they scuffled going into their week off. They lost at Atlanta in Week 6, then were blown out at home by the Chiefs in Week 7 before getting a win over the Rams in LA leading into the bye. San Francisco got right following its week off and didn’t lose again until the NFC championship game. They’re hoping for a similar result to close the regular season in 2023. If they do they have a real shot at the No. 1 seed.
