The last two seasons the 49ers began with Monday Night Football didn’t end well

Both were wins, but both ended with their head coaches getting fired

The San Francisco 49ers are going to kick off the 2024 season against the New York Jets on Monday Night Football. Monday Night Football usually results in a double header of sorts. A marquee matchup begins things followed by a matchup that was hit or miss.

This year, you can guess which matchup the 49ers and Jets are. The 49ers have good odds to win it all, while the Jets are considered one of the better teams of the AFC. In this particular game, the 49ers are favored by a touchdown. There will also be a lot of build up about this little-known story of how Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers wanted to be a 49er but got passed on in the draft.

Did you know that? It’s like really random trivia not many football fans know of.

Anyways, in 2015 and 2016, the 49ers were the other matchup following something one would hope would be more watchable. They were the second Monday night game in the MNF Season opening double header. Both of those 49ers teams won their MNF game to start the season, but people would call them two of the worst football games in their respective seasons. If there was promise from either of those squads, it promptly went to the toilet by Week 2 and the coaches of those two 49ers squads were fired by the end of each year. Each getting only one year to coach.

Yep, in 2015 it was Jim Tomsula and in 2016 it was Chip Kelly.

2015 Monday Night Football vs. Minnesota Vikings

Play-by-Play: Chris Berman
Color: Trent Dilfer
Quarterback: Colin Kaepernick

No one realized this 49ers team would plummet so badly. Despite having the offseason from hell and firing mutually parting ways with Jim Harbaugh, despite all the retirments of players like Patrick Willis, despite all the releases of players like Aldon Smith, the 49ers were seen to take severe steps back, but not like this.

There was promise. First was the return of NaVorro Bowman who sat out the entire 2014 season after a grusome knee injury in 2013-2014 NFC Championship. Bowman made his pressence known right away with massive pops from the crowd after his first few tackles.

Then there was Colin Kaepernick who rather than saying he needed to be bigger, stronger, faster like previous seasons, actually went to a specialist to learn more about quartbacking, Dennis Gile. Gile used something called TDFB or Trent Dilfer Football, or a system developed by the guy who was providing color commentary that night. As you might guess this led to a lot of replays of Dilfer gushing about how much better Kaepernick looked this year as a true QB.

There were some other debuts. Rugby player Jarryd Hayne who had a strong preseason made the team and started with punts. Unfortunately, Hayne muffed his first career punt return—that’s a bad sign. An underwhelming debut to a career that he’d end pretty quickly. Hayne would leave a year later to go compete in the olympics. Then there was the debut of the red and black alternate uniforms, some of the most polarizing unis you’d ever see. I liked them, a lot of you didn’t.

The game was sloppy as you can imagine and how the 49ers pulled away is anyone’s guess. Neither they, nor the Vikings looked particularly impressive. They would go on to lose bad to the Pittsburgh Steelers. You thought Steve Wilks was bad? Go watch the bonehead calls on that game. NaVorro Bowman should never ever ever ever be going deep into coverage.

The 49ers would finish 5-11 and Tomsula would be fired which leads us to:

2016 Monday Night Football vs. Los Angeles Rams

Play-by-Play: Chris Berman
Color: Steve Young
Quarterback: Blaine Gabbert

“Hurry Hurry, GO!”

Of all the QB shouts and cadences, that phrase proved the most annoying. This game was not as memorable as last year’s effort, but at least the team on the field looked a bit better.

Of course this was the first game of the season. Sloppy play and mistakes are bound to happen, one of them being defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil forgetting he’s Jim O’Neil and the 49ers shutting out the Rams., allowing 0 points. Shortly after this win, O’Neil would take his place being regarded as one of the worst defensive coordinators in 49ers history.

The offseason was known for Colin Kaepernick first sitting on the bench and later taking a knee in protests against police brutality and racial injustice in the United States. Kaepernick did not win the starting job in training camp, due to setbacks in his recovery from injuries the previous season. So Blaine Gabbert stepped in and didn’t look awful. He did complete a few passes, one to himself.

What else happened? Honestly? Nothing important, well besides this. Give that a click and watch. That’s a streaker running through the field at Levi’s Stadium and Kevin Harlan providing commentary. That was the highlight of the game, and it’s not even close. There was a scrum towards the end, but who cares? It’s the Rams.

I figured the 49ers would be bad after the Jim Tomsula fiasco, but not this bad. They’d only get one additional win that season, against none other than the Rams. A Chip Kelly 49ers game had some fun moments when you check the highlight reels, but the games themselves were death. When the 49ers did score early for a lead you knew it was just a matter of time.

So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Chip Kelly, along with then-49ers GM Trent Baalke got the ax following the season. This led to Kyle Shanahan taking over as head coach and the 49ers haven’t opened a season with Monday Night Football since.

Until 2024. Hopefully there isn’t a pattern here.