Schrock's Week 12 takeaways: 49ers won't fold in season from Hell

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No other team has been dealt a hand as bad as the one the 49ers have had to play this season. The number of injuries to key players has been staggering. Twelve weeks into the season, the 49ers finally are getting healthy, although a few notable names remain on the shelf and might not be coming off it until 2021.Nevertheless, the return of Deebo Samuel, Raheem Mostert and Richard Sherman helped spark the 49ers to their fourth straight win over the Los Angeles Rams. The win also reinforced a few truths that we already believed to be self-evident: Kyle Shanahan is one of the best coaches in the NFL and the 49ers own the best roster in the NFC West when fully healthy.While the 49ers were becoming the first road team to win at SoFi Stadium, the new-look Raiders arrived in Atlanta and looked strikingly similar to the 2019 team that fell on its face at the end of last season.Elsewhere, the Kansas City Chiefs keep on winning. Tom Brady and the Bucs continue sliding and the Arizona Cardinals are learning the hard way that being a contender isn't just about talent. And one players' Week 12 performance deserves everyone's respect and it has nothing to do with his play.Here are my takeaways from Week 12.

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1/4

Two weeks ago, the Hail Murray put the Cardinals in first place and many, myself included, were proclaiming the Cardinals as the best in the NFC West. 

That might have been premature. 

Following their Thursday night loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Cardinals arrived in New England needing a win against Bill Belichick and the zombie Patriots to get back on track. 

Arizona held Cam Newton to 84 yards and held the Patriots to 179 total yards. And they lost 20-17 to fall to 6-5 and just a game ahead of the 49ers and Minnesota Vikings for the final NFC wild-card spot. 

The Cardinals outgained the Patriots by 119 yards, have seven more first downs and had the ball for 10 minutes more. The loss showed that while talented, the young Cardinals still have to learn how to be contenders. 

Murray admitted after the game that the five games Arizona has lost this season have resulted from self-inflicted wounds. Those have come in the form of turnovers, penalties and curious decisions from coach Kliff Kingsbury. 

Sunday's loss in Foxboro was a mixture of all three. Murray has been torching opponents with his legs all season, but the Patriots held him to just 31 yards rushing and Kingsbury elected not to run Murray on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line before halftime. Instead, he gave the ball to Kenyon Drake, who was stuffed. 

Late in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals had a fourth-and-1 from the Patriots' 27. Instead of trusting his young quarterback to make a play or his line to get a push, Kingsbury opted for a 45-yard field goal that Zane Gonzalez missed. 

At 6-5, it is now gut-check time for the Cardinals. They have the talent to be a playoff team and a hard out come January. But Murray, Kingsbury and the rest of the Cardinals will have to prove they know how to win even when they aren't at their best over the last five games to earn a spot in the postseason.

Easier said than done for a team as young as the Cardinals.

2/4

It certainly wasn't how Kendall Hinton thought the first meaningful NFL action of his career would come. 

With all four of the Denver Broncos' quarterbacks ruled ineligible due to COVID-19, Hinton, a practice squad wide receiver, was elevated to the active roster Sunday and asked to start at QB against the Saints. 

Hinton was a state championship-winning quarterback in high school and was a backup quarterback for Wake Forest in college. On Sunday, he went 1-for-9 for 13 yards and two interceptions in the Broncos' loss to the Saints. 

The stats don't matter.

The Broncos put Hinton in an impossible situation. He's an undrafted wide receiver who has spent his NFL career on the practice squad. He didn't take any reps in practice because the Broncos didn't know they'd be without a quarterback until Saturday. 

He had a zero percent chance at being effective in his NFL debut. But he showed up and gutted it out. He made no excuses and didn't complain. 

The Broncos deserve all the blame for the situation they put Hinton in. He shouldn't be mocked by the keyboard cowboys who were busy Saturday, claiming they could execute a squib kick better than Sarah Fuller and think they could show up on an NFL field and complete a few passes. 

Kendall Hinton deserved better for his NFL debut. But he handled the situation admirably and deserves everyone's respect. 

3/4

Derek Carr promised everyone this Raiders team was different than the 6-4 2019 group that left the West Coast, arrived in New York and got hammered by the Jets en route to a 1-5 finish. 

This team is more talented, tougher mentally, and more confident. 

All those words went out the window Sunday when the Raiders laid an egg against the Falcons in Atlanta. Carr fumbled three times and threw a pick-six before being pulled as the Falcons pulled away for a 43-6 win. 

Forty-three to six. 

The loss took the Raiders from the No. 7 seed in the AFC to the No. 9 slot, and now they're searching for answers. 

Carr wasn't happy Sunday following the Raiders' flop. He claimed the Raiders were flat all week in practice. If they are indeed different than the 2019 club that crumbled after the Jets loss, Carr and Jon Gruden have to find a way to turn things around quickly. 

Sure, the 0-11 Jets are next up. That should, in theory, be a win. But the Raiders finish with games against the Colts, Chargers, Dolphins and Broncos. All of those are losable, especially if the Raiders team from Sunday shows up. 

The Silver and Black have made strides this season. Carr has been phenomenal up until Sunday. Every team puts up a stinker now and then. Losses happen. 

But that looked an awful lot like the 2019 team that fell on its face after getting molly whopped by the Jets and never recovered. 

The Raiders can't have that this year. They have to show real progress. This team is more talented, sure. But if they falter down the stretch and finish at 7-9 or 8-8, can you really claim progress? 

For Carr, Gruden and the Raiders, the final five games are about the playoff push. Absolutely. But they are also about proving that the Las Vegas Raiders are indeed different than the final iteration of the Oakland Raiders. The team that left the East Bay with nacho remains scattered across the Coliseum end zone after a loss to the Jaguars ended their playoff dreams. 

These next five games are an essential building block for the Gruden era.

Prove you're for real. 

Because the Raiders that showed up to Atlanta on Sunday looked exactly like last year's Silver and Black.

4/4

This 49ers season went from parade planning to rubble in a matter of weeks. Injuries to almost every essential member of the roster left the 49ers short-handed and fighting an uphill battle in football's toughest division. 

Nick Bosa is lost for the season, as is Solomon Thomas. Jimmy Garoppolo has played one game at full strength and a handful of others on one leg. George Kittle is on IR and might not return this season. Deebo Samuel has played in only four games. Richard Sherman in two. 

Amongst the rubble and the wreckage of the 49ers' once-promising season is Kyle Shanahan, who showed once again Sunday how indispensable he is in the 49ers' win over the Los Angeles Rams. 

The 49ers entered Sunday at 4-6 and with a minuscule chance to make the playoffs. On Saturday, they found out they would be without a home for the rest of the season as Santa Clara County but the kibosh on contact sports amid the surge in COVID-19 cases. 

So many teams would have sleep walked Sunday against the division leader. After all, what is there to play for?

But the 49ers didn't fold or let the Rams run right over them. Instead, with Samuel, Sherman and Raheem Mostert back in the lineup, they banded together and stunned the Rams to move within a game of a playoff spot.

That's a testament to Kyle Shanahan, John Lynch and the culture the 49ers have built. 

Finally getting somewhat healthy, the 49ers showed they have the best roster in the division. Samuel returned to catch 11 passes for 134 yards in the win. (Do you think Aaron Donald knows who he is now?) Sherman picked off Goff and Mostert ground out 43 yards against a Rams' front that was keying to stop the run. 

The 49ers might not play at home again this season. 

With the Cardinals sliding and the Bucs unable to get out of their own way, the 49ers have a path to make December interesting. They have the Cowboys and Washington on the schedule as well as the Bills, Seahawks and Cardinals.

Can 4-1 get them in? Perhaps. 

Either way, the 49ers refused to quit despite a season from Hell. That's something Shanahan should be applauded for, no matter how the season ends. 

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