2018 San Francisco 49ers season


The 2018 season was the San Francisco 49ers' 69th in the National Football League, their 73rd overall, their fifth playing their home games at Levi's Stadium and their second under the head coach/general manager tandem of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch.
After finishing 6–10 from an 0–9 start the previous year, the 49ers were looking to improve from that record and make the playoffs for the first time since 2013. However, the 49ers' season ended with a record of 4–12 and were plagued by multiple season-ending injuries, including running back Jerick McKinnon tearing his ACL in training camp and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo tearing his ACL in Week 3 against the [2018 2018 Kansas City Chiefs season|Kansas City Chiefs season|Kansas City Chiefs]. The 49ers were eliminated from playoff contention following a Week 13 loss to the [2018 2018 Seattle Seahawks season|Seattle Seahawks season|Seattle Seahawks]. In Week 15, however, the 49ers upset the Seahawks 26–23 in overtime at home, snapping the 49ers' 10–game losing streak to them that dated back to the 2013 NFC Championship Game. The win also stopped the Seahawks from clinching a playoff spot that week. The 49ers failed to improve on their 6–10 record from last year. The 49ers also went 0–8 on the road for the first time since 1979.
The 49ers defense would also go on to set multiple NFL records for futility. During the entire 16 game schedule of the 2018 NFL season, the 49ers defense would accumulate just two interceptions, breaking the previous mark of three. Incredibly, that included strike shortened NFL seasons. Putting that into perspective, a total of 40 different players throughout the league would go on to have more interceptions than the entire 49ers team. The 49ers would also have just seven total takeaways on the season, smashing the previous record of 11. Both records would stand until 2025, when the [2025 2025 New York Jets season|New York Jets season|New York Jets] would surpass both marks with zero interceptions and four turnovers in an even longer 17-game regular season. The 49ers were also last in the league with a −25 turnover differential, the worst mark since 2008.
The 2018 49ers would go on to set one more notable "futility" mark after the team went 8–0 to start the following season, thus giving the 2018 49ers the worst record in NFL history of any team that went on to go undefeated that far into the following season.

Offseason

Roster changes

Free agency

The 49ers entered free agency with the following:

Draft

Notes
  • The 49ers finished with the same overall record and strength of schedule as the Oakland Raiders at the end of the season, and their selecting order was determined by way of a coin flip at the NFL Scouting Combine in early 2018. Both teams will then rotate with the Miami Dolphins, selecting 9th, 10th and 11th in each round. The 49ers won the coin toss.
Draft trades
  • The 49ers traded a second-round selection to New England in exchange for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
  • The 49ers traded their third-round selection in 2017 to New Orleans in exchange for New Orleans' second-round selection and their seventh-round selection in 2017.
  • The 49ers traded their first-round selection in 2017 to Chicago in exchange for Chicago's third-round selection, and their first-, third- and fourth-round selections in 2017.
  • The 49ers traded their fourth-round selection to Denver in exchange for Denver's fifth-round selection in 2017 and running back Kapri Bibbs.
  • The 49ers traded their fifth-round selection and tight end Vance McDonald to Pittsburgh in exchange for Pittsburgh's fourth-round selection.
  • The 49ers traded cornerback Rashard Robinson to the New York Jets in exchange for the Jets' fifth-round selection.
  • The 49ers traded their seventh-round selection and center Daniel Kilgore to Miami in exchange for the seventh-round selection Miami acquired from Tampa Bay.
  • The 49ers traded cornerback Kenneth Acker to Kansas City in exchange for Kansas City's seventh-round selection.
  • The 49ers traded their fifth-round selection and OT Trent Brown to New England in exchange for the third-round selection.

Regular season

Game summaries

Week 1: at Minnesota Vikings

Three interceptions by Jimmy Garoppolo, who earned his first loss as an NFL starter, would hurt the 49ers in the end. The 49ers lost 24–16, with the difference being a Garoppolo pick-six as well several key drops by receivers. With the loss, the 49ers started their season 0-1 for the second consecutive season.

Week 2: vs. Detroit Lions

Despite the Lions' attempted comeback in the fourth quarter, the 49ers would hang on to win 30-27 as the team earns their first win of the season behind 2 touchdowns from Garoppolo and Matt Breida's 138 yards rushing. With the win, the 49ers evened their record to 1-1

Week 3: at Kansas City Chiefs

Not only did the 49ers lose the game, Jimmy Garoppolo got carted off in the fourth quarter with a serious knee injury. The next day, an MRI further revealed that Garoppolo had torn his ACL, ruling him out for the rest of the season. The devastating loss dropped the 49ers to 1-2 on the season.
These two teams would meet again the following season in Super Bowl LIV, with the 49ers falling short 31–20.

Week 4: at Los Angeles Chargers

The first post-Garoppolo game of the season was a surprisingly competitive game, mostly due to safety Antone Exum getting a pick-six in the first quarter, but the 49ers still lost 29–27 and dropped to 1–3 on the season and 0–1 after Garoppolo's injury.

Week 5: vs. Arizona Cardinals

Playing a winless Cardinals team desperately seeking a win, the 49ers held rookie quarterback Josh Rosen in check, but were hurt by five offensive turnovers, one of which resulted in a defensive touchdown for Arizona. The 49ers dropped to 1–4 heading into a Monday Night road game against the Packers.

Week 6: at Green Bay Packers

The 49ers held a 30–23 lead in the final three minutes, but Aaron Rodgers threw a touchdown pass to Davante Adams to tie the game with less than 2 minutes left. On the 49ers' next drive, a critical C. J. Beathard interception plus an illegal contact penalty on Richard Sherman in the final minute led to a 27-yard game-winning field goal by Mason Crosby to send the 49ers to a 33–30 loss and a 1–5 record heading into next week's home game against the undefeated Rams.

Week 7: vs. Los Angeles Rams

The loss to their NFC West and interstate rivals had the 49ers fall to 1-6 and 0-3 since Jimmy Garoppolo's injury. The 29-point margin was the 49ers' worst loss until Week 12 of the 2024 season.

Week 8: at Arizona Cardinals

With the loss, the 49ers dropped to 1–7 and last place in the NFC West. They were also swept by the Cardinals for the 4th consecutive season.

Week 9: vs. Oakland Raiders

This was the first start for Nick Mullens at quarterback, who replaced C. J. Beathard. The game was incredibly one-sided, with the 49ers winning by over 30 points. The win was the final Battle of the Bay tying up the overall series at 5 but the victory put the 49ers at 2-7 for the season.

Week 10: vs. New York Giants

With the loss, the 49ers fall to 2-8 this would secure their 5th consecutive season without a winning record.

Week 12: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

With the loss, the 49ers fall to 2-9, securing their 4th consecutive losing season.

Week 13: at Seattle Seahawks

With the loss, the 49ers fall to 2-10 and 0-4 in the NFC West division.

Week 14: vs. Denver Broncos

With the victory, the 49ers snapped a 3 game losing streak and go up to 3-10 on the season.

Week 15: vs. Seattle Seahawks

This was the first time since 2013 that the 49ers beat the Seahawks, snapping a 10-game losing streak which dates back to the 2013 NFC Championship Game. This also prevented the Seahawks from clinching a Wild-Card Berth that week. The win would be the final win of the season putting the 49ers at 4-10.

Week 16: vs. Chicago Bears

The 49ers fall in the Levi's season finale, dropping them to 4-11 on the season.

Week 17: at Los Angeles Rams

With the loss, the 49ers finished 0–8 on the road for the first time since 1979. The 49ers were swept by the Rams for the first time since 2004. During the season finale against the Rams, Kittle broke Travis Kelce's single-season receiving yards record for a tight end, less than an hour after Kelce broke the record, on a 43-yard touchdown and finished the season with 1,377 yards. The 49ers would end their season at 4-12.