49ers vs. Dolphins: The Standard’s 5 fast predictions

The 49ers’ postseason dreams are, for all intents and purposes, dead. Their probability of making the playoffs has cratered to less than one percent, and they’ll likely be formally eliminated this weekend — regardless of whether they beat the Miami Dolphins.

But there’s still a season to finish, and in the NFL, every snap counts equally on each player’s résumé. The death of postseason dreams doesn’t make football meaningless.

A Dolphins team featuring some familiar faces awaits Sunday. Miami’s head coach is Mike McDaniel, the 49ers’ former offensive coordinator and Kyle Shanahan’s good friend. Former 49ers staffers Jon Embree and Wes Welker are also with the Dolphins now. Embree is the tight ends coach who developed George Kittle — he fined the rookie $10 every time he ran out of bounds without being forced to do so in 2017 — and Welker used to coach Deebo Samuel and the 49ers’ receivers.

Max McCaffrey, the older brother of superstar Christian McCaffrey, is also a Miami offensive staffer. The brothers were excited to execute an unusual apparel swap — Christian’s jersey for Max’s coaching polo shirt. That, unfortunately, was foiled when Christian McCaffrey landed back on injured reserve earlier this month.

Nevertheless, here are our predictions for Week 15.

Lombardi: UNDER
Rain or not, the 49ers’ offensive performance last week was a miserable one. They made a bad Rams defense look like the 1985 Bears. The Dolphins defense, meanwhile, is solid. A 49ers offense that has generated the least amount of space in the NFL — see the graphic below — is not well equipped to set up an easy afternoon for Purdy.

Kawakami: UNDER
In each of the 49ers’ four previous victories, Purdy has gone over this number. In each of the 49ers’ five previous losses, Purdy has gone under this number. He’s a barometer. And I’m not too bullish on the 49ers’ chances against a Dolphins defense that just held Houston to 181 total yards.

Lombardi: JAUAN JENNINGS
With Isaac Guerendo — the 49ers’ fourth running back of the season — very likely out with a hamstring injury, it stands to reason that the leader here will generate his yardage in the pass game. Let’s go with Jennings, who’s been the team’s best wideout this season.

Kawakami: GEORGE KITTLE
He’s been the 49ers’ best offensive player by a large margin this season — currently leading the team in receptions, touchdowns, and total yards from scrimmage. Once again this week, if the 49ers are going to move the ball, it’ll likely come mostly from Kittle.

We’re defining big plays as sacks + forced fumbles + fumble recoveries + interceptions. 

Lombardi: NICK BOSA
He’ll be back home in South Florida and the 49ers’ pass rush is roaring to life. A perpetual key for the 49ers has been to field a credible bookend at edge rusher. They currently have two of those in Leonard Floyd (8.5 sacks) and Yetur Gross-Matos, the NFC Defensive Player of the Week earlier this month. That’ll open up sack opportunities for Bosa.

Kawakami: DEOMMODORE LENOIR
One of these times I’m going to be right when I predict a Lenoir pick-six. Tua Tagovailoa likes to get it out quickly and Lenoir is really good reading those, so … I’ll try it one more time.

Lombardi: JAYLON MOORE
Trent Williams might be done for the season with his ankle injury. Backup left tackle Jaylon Moore has played well in reserve, ranking in the top half of qualifying tackles in pass-blocking efficiency. Moore faces a stiff test in Miami rookie edge rusher Chop Robinson, who is among the league leaders in pressures.

Kawakami: RICKY PEARSALL
His last big moment came at Tampa more than a month ago — first TD catch, 73 total yards — so maybe a return to Florida will get the rookie back on track after a very quiet recent stint.

Lombardi: Dolphins 24, 49ers 23
In case you haven’t noticed, not much is going right for the 49ers this season — and they’re not finishing close games effectively. I don’t expect a dramatic reversal of that trend after a cross-country flight.

Kawakami: Dolphins 24, 49ers 20
Big draft-order game between two 6-8 teams! Miami actually is still somewhat in the AFC wild-card race, so I’ll give the nod to the home team with a tiny bit to play for. I don’t think the 49ers are going to roll over. I don’t think anybody else is going to quit in the middle of the game. But this is a long trip to make at the end of a bleak season.