2016 San Francisco 49ers season

The 2016 season was the San Francisco 49ers' 67th in the National Football League, their 71st overall, their third playing their home games at Levi's Stadium and their only season under head coach Chip Kelly. The season saw the 49ers attempting to rebound from their 5–11 record the previous year, but they finished 2–14, with both wins coming against their division rival Los Angeles Rams. The 49ers also nearly became the first team since the 2001 Carolina Panthers to win their opener and lose the remainder of their games, prior to the 49ers' Week 16 win over the Rams. Consequently, the 49ers became the first team to achieve this dubious distinction twice, having previously achieved this 2004, when they also finished 2–14, both wins against the Arizona Cardinals. The 49ers' 1–7 home record tied the worst home record in franchise history. As a result, the 49ers fired Kelly and general manager Trent Baalke.
The 49ers defense also set an NFL record by allowing a 100-yard rusher in seven straight games and easily finished last in the league in rush defense.

Offseason

Coaching changes

After the 2015 season ended, the 49ers fired Jim Tomsula as head coach. On January 14, 2016, the 49ers hired Chip Kelly as their head coach. Kelly had spent the previous three seasons as head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles and had been fired before finishing what would turn out to be a disappointing 7–9 Eagles season.

Roster changes

Free agency

The 49ers entered free agency with the following:

Draft

'''Notes'''

Preseason

The 49ers' preseason opponents and schedule were announced April 7, 2016.

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	August 14	Houston Texans	L 13–24	0–1	Levi's Stadium
2	August 20	at Denver Broncos	W 31–24	1–1	Sports Authority Field at Mile High
3	August 26	Green Bay Packers	L 10–21	1–2	Levi's Stadium
4	September 1	at San Diego Chargers	W 31–21	2–2	Qualcomm Stadium

Regular season

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Los Angeles Rams

49ers kicked the season off at 1-0

Week 2: at Carolina Panthers

With the loss, 49ers fell to 1-1

Week 3: at Seattle Seahawks

With the loss, 49ers fell to 1-2

Week 4: vs. Dallas Cowboys

With the loss, 49ers fell to 1-3

Week 5: vs. Arizona Cardinals

The 49ers wore their black alternate uniforms for this game as part of Color Rush.
With the loss, 49ers fell to 1-4

Week 6: at Buffalo Bills

Days prior to Week 6, Head Coach Chip Kelly confirmed that quarterback Colin Kaepernick would start in place of Blaine Gabbert. This was Kaepernick's first start of the season.
With the loss, 49ers fell to 1-5

Week 7: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

With the loss, 49ers fell to 1-6

Week 9: vs. New Orleans Saints

With their 7th consecutive loss, 49ers fell to 1-7

Week 10: at Arizona Cardinals

With the loss, 49ers fell to 1-8 and extended their losing streak to 8 games.

Week 11: vs. New England Patriots

With their 9th loss in a row, the 49ers fell to 1-9. As of 2024, this marks the 49ers last loss to New England.

Week 12: at Miami Dolphins

With their 10th straight loss, the 49ers fell to 1-10 and they were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention for the third consecutive season. An attempted rally by the 49ers was stopped short of the end zone in the final seconds.

Week 13: at Chicago Bears

With their 11th straight loss, 49ers fell to 1-11

Week 14: vs. New York Jets

With their 12th consecutive loss, the 49ers fell to 1-12 and finished 0-4 against the AFC East.

Week 15: at Atlanta Falcons

With another blowout loss, the 49ers extended their losing streak to 13 games and finished 0-4 against the NFC South.

Week 16: at Los Angeles Rams

With the win, the 49ers snapped their 13-game losing streak and swept the Rams on the season, while going 0–13 against the rest of the league. With the Cleveland Browns standing 0–14 before this week, the 49ers win also ended the possibility of two teams finishing 1–15 for the first time, or becoming the first team since the 2001 Carolina Panthers to win their opener and lose the remainder of their games.

Week 17: vs. Seattle Seahawks

With the loss, the 49ers ended their season 2–14, their worst record since 2004. This was Colin Kaepernick's last game as a 49er.