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Year No. 1 under coach Dennis Erickson ended with the 49ers at 7-9 and out of the playoffs.
Disappointing? Left tackle Derrick Deese, who played on the 49ers' 1994 team
that won the Super Bowl, would say so.
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"Some of the younger players are learning about the 49er tradition, learning that this is unacceptable," Deese said after Saturday's season-ending loss to the Seattle Seahawks. "If even we were 8-8, that's not acceptable. We're better than that. And I think this team knows it. We just got some unlucky breaks."
Erickson admits it took him a while to learn the 49ers' way, and he's vowed
to have a better grasp on things and more control in Year No. 2.
"I probably will be involved with the offense next year, much more than
I was this year, without question," Erickson said Monday. "I will
even get involved a bit defensively as I get to know it.
"When you are 7-9, none of us has done our best job that we can do,"
added Erickson, who went 7-9 once and 8-8 three times as the Seattle Seahawks
coach from 1995-98. "We worked our rear ends off. ... Next year I will
be much more involved in all aspects of this football team than when I was coming
in."
That apparently will include upcoming personnel decisions. Ironically, team
owner John York cited Steve Mariucci's desire to have a bigger role in personnel
as a major factor for Mariucci's dismissal Jan. 15, three days after the 49ers
lost in the NFC divisional playoffs to eventual Super Bowl-champion Tampa Bay.
"Dennis is going to have some strong opinions," general manager Terry
Donahue said. "He's going to know this team a lot better than he did this
last February."
Said Erickson: "Terry and I will work together with this and talk about
our team and what I think our strengths and weaknesses are, as will he. We mainly
agree on a lot of them and disagree on some other ones. Then, we'll come to
a decision on what direction we feel like we have to go in. That is how it will
be."
How did it all unravel in 2003?
It didn't take long. The 49ers followed up a season-opening 49-7 rout of the
Chicago Bears with a three-game losing streak. That skid got worse by the week,
with the team losing in overtime at St. Louis, blowing a late lead in a 13-12
home loss to the Cleveland Browns and then getting blown out 35-7 at Minnesota.
But the 49ers didn't just lose their first two road games. They lost their first
seven before finally claiming a 31-28 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec.
21.
Every road game, and all but two home contests, featured a false-start penalty
by the 49ers. They finished with 32 such penalties this season, including five
apiece from Deese, right guard Ron Stone and tight end Jed Weaver.
Perhaps the first clue of the 49ers' injury fate occurred a week before training
camp. That's when quarterback Jeff Garcia sustained a bulging disk in his back
while lifting weights with a personal trainer in Los Angeles. Garcia battled
through that injury, as well a concussion, a strained groin, a strained right
forearm/wrist and a sprained left ankle, which snapped his streak of consecutive
starts at 61.
Garcia entered the season ranked fourth in NFL history with an 89.9 career passer
rating. He posted an 80.1 rating this season, rallying from a four-interception
outing Nov. 30 at Baltimore.
Injuries also decimated the offensive line, a unit that got panned by wide receiver
Terrell Owens after the loss to the Browns. Owens piped up again the following
week, angrily confronting offensive coordinator Greg Knapp on the sideline and
later telling reporters: "We got no heart."
Next year, the 49ers likely won't have Owens, one of 14 players headed for unrestricted
free agency. But the 49ers discovered a potential replacement for Owens -- or,
more likely, Tai Streets -- in acrobatic rookie Brandon Lloyd.
"The team's expecting more out of me come next season, and I want to make
sure I step up and rise to the occasion," Lloyd said Sunday. "It's
expected, and I expect it. I want a bigger role, so I'm going to do in the offseason
what's necessary to get it."
Also anticipating an expanded workload is running back Kevan Barlow, who racked
up 1,024 yards despite starting only the final four games when Garrison Hearst
failed to recover quickly from knee surgery.
Follies on special teams hampered the 49ers all season. They missed five point-after
attempts this year, with holder Bill LaFleur failing to cleanly field snaps
on three of those. He also muffed the hold of a 31-yard field goal attempt against
the Eagles.
Adding to the madness were three kickers -- Jeff Chandler, Owen Pochman and
Todd Peterson. After a horrendous outing by Pochman in an overtime loss at Arizona,
the 49ers turned to Peterson, who kicked for the Seattle Seahawks during Erickson's
stint there from 1995-98. Peterson provided stability, but he had a point-after
kick blocked and missed two field goal attempts under 30 yards.
A matured defense served as the 49ers' savior much of this season, spearheaded
by outside linebacker/left end Julian Peterson (team-high seven sacks), safety
Tony Parrish (team-high nine interceptions) and linebacker Derek Smith (team-record
189 tackles).
Defensive coordinator Jim Mora's blitz-heavy attack helped key the 49ers' NFC-best
plus-12 turnover margin. They allowed the second-fewest yards rushing per home
game in NFL history (58.3), but they allowed 153.9 yards rushing per game on
the road.
"We were very inconsistent," Donahue said. "One week the offense
would perform and the defense didn't, or vice versa. Or the offense and defense
would perform and the kicking game didn't.
"We just didn't get into sync enough weeks to make the playoffs. That lack
of consistency. ... It was constantly a lack of consistency."
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