When the 49ers faced off against the Lions in an NFC championship rematch in Week 17, they were looking to salvage some pride. A 6-9 season was a fry cry from their Super Bowl appearance a year ago, and this was an opportunity to put some belief back in the team. However, a defensive disaster class resulted in a 40-34 defeat, exposing the very weaknesses that had haunted them throughout the season.  Their fourth-down failures had let them down once again. The 49ers were leading 28-24 in the third quarter when the Lions quarterback Jared Goff tossed a four-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Amon-Ra St. Brown on 4th-and-goal to give them a 31-28 lead.

This wasn’t an isolated incident nor did these defensive issues cropped up this year. When they made the Super Bowl last year, linebacker Fred Warner had openly said that the team’s defensive quality in the postseason was, “not good enough at all.” The Niners had conceded 21 points to the Packers in the divisional round and then allowed 31 points to the Lions in the NFC title game. And it seems the defensive frailties carried into the next season and so did Warner’s discontent.

Coming on the back of a Super Bowl appearance, the 49ers were expected to challenge in the conference once again. But after losing their Week 2 and 3 games, they were playing catching and then lost 7 out of nine games after bye week 9. A season was left in tatters as they finished bottom of the NFC West.

At the NFL Honors ceremony before the Super Bowl LIX, Warner was seated next to the former Bills RB LeSean McCoy and revealed to him what went wrong with their season. A tweet mentioned, “LeSean McCoy asked Fred Warner about the 2024 season: I sat next to Fred Warner at the NFL Honors and said ‘What happened, Dawg?’, and he said ‘Yo, our defense was bad. Bad, bad.'”

The 49ers’ defense was awful this season. Their third-down defense was 24th in the NFL, and their red-zone defense was 31st. They allowed touchdowns 68.4 percent of the time inside their own 20-yard line. A combination of missed tackles, poor angles and positioning, and failure to come away and force turnovers resulted in one of the worst defensive displays by a 49ers side in recent memory.

The Pro Football Network ranked the 49ers’ defense the seventh-worst unit in the NFL. Explaining the decision, they wrote, “Having been a top-10 unit each year between 2019 and 2023, San Francisco slipped to its worst season-long ranking since the Defense+ metric began. Run defense was a huge weakness this year. The Niners 28th in EPA per rush and 25th in rushing success rate.” No wonder, defensive coordinator Nick Sorenson was shown the door after the season ended. But was he alone to be blamed for such low-level performances?

Let’s not forget that injuries also left the 49ers decimated. Dre Greenlaw tore his left Achilles tendon during the Super Bowl and only returned in late December to play one-half of the football. He then played just four snaps before leaving with a calf strain against the Miami Dolphins, before he was shut down by the team for the remaining two games. Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (torn pectoral) was out of the season after just three games. The 49ers continued to suffer as All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams made it through 10 games due to an ankle injury and safety Talanoa Hufanga appeared in just seven games. Yet, their inability to make decisive plays and force errors was a glaring issue.

The 49ers defense ranked 19th out of 32 teams in tackling efficiency according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats. Against Green Bay in Week 12, they missed 24 tackles (four more than any other team in a single game this season) and didn’t force a single fumble in their final 10 games. These numbers and Warren’s words put in clear view, the task that lies ahead for new defensive coordinator Robert Saleh.

Saleh, who served as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator from 2017-2020, returned to the franchise after being fired by the Jets as HC in October just five games into his fourth season. Under him, the Jets were a top-five defense in yards against the past three seasons.

Since his departure from San Francisco, Kyle Shanahan has had a difficult time holding onto a DC. DeMeco Ryans, who replaced Saleh, left after two seasons to take the head coach at the Houston Texans. Steve Wilks arrived in 2023 and helped the team reach the Super Bowl but was let go after the season.

Nick Sorensen was named the new DC at the start of last season but has been fired after a disappointing run. With Saleh at the helm, the 49ers will hope to find some defensive stability, and Warner for one is pleased.

Saleh was the person who showed his faith in Warner after the former BYU talent was labeled too soft to play in the box and that he wasn’t cut out for the physicality of the league. Speaking on the Pat McAfee Show about Saleh’s return he said, “I love Saleh, love everything about him…I was a third-round draft pick and I had a bunch of teams telling me, ‘You can’t do this, you’re not that.’ Finally, I took my 30 visit with the Niners and I’m in there with Coach Saleh in his office, and he was like, ‘Man, I really like your game, this is how I see you playing in our system…’ I love him. Happy to be back with him.”

The Niners are also looking to improve their defensive personnel and there are talks that they want to go all-in for Browns DE Myles Garrett. His arrival will be an enormous boost. But whether they land him remains to be seen.

Many questions remain to be answered. The Niners have a month before free agency opens on March 12. The biggest is their quarterback, Brock Purdy’s future.

Fred Warner stands with Brock Purdy

Purdy played his worst season as he only had 20 TDs and 12 interceptions, the most in 3 seasons so far. But Warner believes Purdy is going to be the future for the 49ers and stated why the 25-year-old QB is the “guy.”

“If you truly watch the tape and you watch all the other elite quarterbacks in this league, there’s a common thread amongst all of them: The fact that they’re able to process the game at such a high level, able to create plays with their feet, and make the high-level throws up and down the field. Brock Purdy does all these things,” Fred Warner told The Athletic’s Diana Russini.

“Everybody out there, if you have any questions about Brock Purdy, I’m here to tell you, I’m not biased. I know ball — he’s the guy,” he added. Purdy is up for a massive contract extension this offseason and the 49ers will be keen to retain him

The 49ers owner Jed York also praised the QB before the Super Bowl LIX. He also claimed that Purdy would stay at the franchise for a long time. Last month, Warner was asked if has any doubts about Purdy’s long-term future at the franchise. “Not at all. Brock Purdy, he’s the man,” replied before claiming, “He will be the 49ers quarterback for a very, very, very long time with plenty of Super Bowl rings on his fingers. He’s about to be a very rich man soon, and I can’t wait to see it.”

A lot of the 49ers fans will hope for the same once Purdy puts pen to paper over a new deal. The football world was abuzz with the contract extension he would sign. It definitely brings stability to his future. But until the deal gets finalized, we can’t say anything.

The front office has to work hard with players coming out in the open. They can’t go into the 2025 season with a weak roster. Can they resolve all the qualms? We’ll see.