Adam Rank became a meme with his 3-13 prediction for the 49ers in 2019. Now he has them going 9-8, do you agree?
If you were around these parts in 2019, you might remember a sort of running gag going on with the San Francisco 49ers. They had a lot of people saying they weren’t going to do much in the 2019 season, but no one got the pure vitriol and fan backlash than one Adam Rank.
I certainly didn’t make things any better, posting his infamous 3-13 prediction after every 49ers win that season. Rank was a good sport about it, though, and engaged with the fans, made jokes about himself and the prediction, and proved to be a class act where other analysts could get defensive over something that is just trivial at the end.
With that in mind, his predictions are something that we have to illustrate around here. There’s probably more predictions on the NFL season records than there are drops of water in the ocean, but given his history with us, Adam Rank’s prediction deserves mention.
This year, Rank has the 49ers going 9-8 and getting back on track, so to speak. Here’s his prediction:
Week 1: at Seattle Seahawks – Loss
Week 2: at New Orleans Saints – Win
Week 3: vs. Arizona Cardinals – Win
Week 4: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars – Win
Week 5: at Los Angeles Rams – Loss
Week 6: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Loss
Week 7: vs. Atlanta Falcons – Win
Week 8: at Houston Texans – Loss
Week 9: at New York Giants – Win
Week 10: vs. Los Angeles Rams – Loss
Week 11: at Arizona Cardinals – Loss
Week 12: vs Carolina Panthers – Win
Week 13: at Cleveland Browns – Win
Week 14: BYE
Week 15: vs. Tennessee Titans – Win
Week 16: at Indianapolis Colts – Loss
Week 17: at Chicago Bears – Loss
Week 18: vs. Seattle Seahawks – Win
So 9-8 and what Rank calls “bouncing back.”
A couple of things with this: first, Rank has the 49ers taking losses to the Rams. I don’t know how all of a sudden Sean McVay got this “better coach than Kyle Shanahan” or the “Rams play the 49ers tougher” talk with everyone, because right up until the end of the 2023 season, the 49ers beating the Rams was a punchline. And the loss suffered at the end of that aforementioned 2023 season was one where they were playing the backups because playoff seeding was already solidified.
Yes, the Rams beat the 49ers to go onto the Super Bowl one season, but they had also been beaten by the likes of Nick Mullens before. This isn’t some single Seattle Seahawks regular-season blowout I’m hanging my hat on. I’m just saying the 49ers have racked up wins against the Rams for a while.
Starting in 2019, Shanahan had the roster turned around and Jimmy Garoppolo healthy, and up to 2023 in the regular season with 10 contests between them, there was only one (1) Rams win. Again: Nick Mullens beat the Rams once. So he’s beaten the Rams just as many times as they’ve beaten the 49ers up to 2024. Kyle Shanahan is 10-4 against the Rams. Sorry, I just don’t get it.
And if your response is “The 49ers always got the Rams when they were injured/on the skid/etc,” what the hell were the 49ers for all of 2024? That’s some “Brock Purdy isn’t a good quarterback unless the system is good” rhetoric right there.
In 2024, the Rams beat the 49ers twice. Yippie! One game had Ronnie Bell dropping passes and Jake Moody missing kicks, while the other had Deebo Samuel forget he was Deebo Samuel.
2025 has two games against the Rams I think the 49ers can win.
Ok, now that I have that out of my system, second: While I’m curbing expectations this year with how young that team is, 9-7 would be disappointing. At least, how this reads on paper in July.
Don’t misunderstand here: I think a playoff appearance is a very successful season. Winning in the playoffs is another story. I also don’t see the 49ers losing to the Bears. So now we’re 12-5. The 49ers aren’t going 17-0, that much is certain. And they do have a very easy schedule—on paper. We don’t know who in the NFL will get hot in July, but the 49ers should be cracking double digits with this schedule, provided the injury bug doesn’t come to say hello.
The postseason opponents will (obviously) be light years better than the schedule the 49ers get, which is why I think the playoffs will be a different beast, as they usually are. And yes, I do think some losses come from some youthful boneheaded decisions. But 9-8? Ehhhhhh, I dunno about that.
Regardless, Rank is saving himself a lot of memes by giving the 49ers a winning season. Of course, I’m sure once they beat the Seahawks in Week 1, it starts all over again.
What do you think of this one?