been the biggest disappointments of all. The 49ers, expected to regress toward the mean after a promising 8-8 season with a 9.5-win point differential the previous year, had fallen off to an embarrassing 5-10 record. A fan base with high hopes had resorted to chanting “WE WANT CARR” at embattled head coach Mike Singletary amid an 0-5 start, but the 49ers instead stumbled through a stretch with Alex and Troy Smith before eventually firing Singletary on December 27, one day after a loss to the Rams.

On December 23, 2012, the NFC West was the toast of the league. The Sunday Night Football contest that night was between the 10-3-1 49ers and 9-5 Seahawks, two of the best teams in football. They would each make deep playoff runs; thealready been made, but their true impact hadn’t yet been revealed; other changes were still to come. Let’s start, though, with what those teams looked like heading into the final week of the 2010 season, and finish up with how they got to where they are now.

Where They Were Then

The 49ers were a team in transition. Their interim head coach was Jim Tomsula, who would return to his role as defensive line coach after the season. He looked like a guy who had won a contest to be head coach for a day. His lone game as head coach would be a good one, as the 49ers blew out the Cardinals, 38-7.

Of the 22 players who started for San Francisco that day, seven were off the active roster