This piece originally appeared in our twice-weekly sports newsletter Section 415. Sign up for the newsletter here and subscribe to the Section 415 podcast wherever you listen.

Since the start of Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers tenure in 2017, no team has made more appearances in the NFC Championship Game.

San Francisco’s four conference title games in Shanahan’s first eight seasons are a remarkable achievement that highlight some obvious themes. Shanahan is an excellent coach, the 49ers have consistently built impressive rosters, and their teams typically demonstrate impressive resilience.

With Shanahan at the helm, the 49ers have also had to confront a less convenient truth. Their best players are constantly injured.

During the team’s 26-15 loss to the Texans on Sunday, the FOX broadcast showed a graphic that captured the magnitude of the 49ers’ injuries. Since Shanahan took over, 49ers players have missed a combined 2,036 games due to injury.

That’s the most in the NFL during that time frame, and to anyone who has followed this team closely, it’s no surprise.

Sunday’s defeat marked the 140th game of the Shanahan era, which means that, on average, more than 14 players have been unavailable on a weekly basis due to injury. 

This week, the 49ers’ injury report was a who’s who of stars. San Francisco has already lost Nick Bosa and Fred Warner for the season, and quarterback Brock Purdy sat for the sixth time in eight games. Brandon Aiyuk has yet to play this year, as he’s still recovering from last season’s catastrophic knee injury, and Ricky Pearsall was held out for the fourth time this season. 

For the most part, the 49ers have miraculously overcome losses to star players. In 2022, quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance were both hurt, thrusting rookie Brock Purdy into action. He led the 49ers to the NFC title game before tearing his UCL in his throwing arm and leaving Shanahan to think about calling up retired quarterback Phillip Rivers for a potential Super Bowl appearance. 

But in 2024, Christian McCaffrey was limited to just four games, and his absence wiped out the 49ers’ playoff hopes. They lost a long list of other key players – including primary backups Jordan Mason and Elijah Mitchell – and McCaffrey’s absence was the leading factor in San Francisco’s nightmare 6-11 season.  

If Sunday’s performance was any indication, the second half of this season could be long, ugly, and filled with reserve players simply trying to keep the 49ers afloat. 

It’s one thing to play without Bosa. It’s another when Bryce Huff and Yetur Gross-Matos are also unavailable and a fourth 49ers defensive end, Sam Okuayinonu, exits on a cart. 

It’s one thing to play without Warner. It’s another when fellow linebacker Dee Winters goes down in the middle of a game and the coaches don’t yet trust rookie third-round draft pick Nick Martin to see the field.

There’s bad injury luck, and there’s bad drafting. Those two factors will lead to losing records.

The coach and front office can’t change what has already happened, but it doesn’t bode well that a deep rookie class might have had its worst performance of the season Sunday.

• First-round draft pick Mykel Williams didn’t register a QB hit.

• Second-round DT Alfred Collins had as many tackles as special teams ace Siran Neal (two).

• Third-round CB Upton Stout committed a brutal holding penalty that extended a Houston drive.

• Third-round LB Nick Martin was passed over as a sub following Winters’ injury.

• Fourth-round wide receiver Jordan Watkins dropped one of his two targets.

• Fourth-round DT CJ West was a healthy scratch.

• Fifth-round RB Jordan James was a healthy scratch.

• Fifth-round safety Marques Sigle is out of the DB rotation after early-season pass coverage issues.

• Seventh-round guard Connor Colby struggled mightily in pass protection and was subbed out late in the game.

Injuries are inevitable in the NFL, and no team understands that better than the 49ers. They also know that their rookies and depth pieces have to step up; otherwise, they’ll have a lot more games that look like the clunker they played Sunday.