End-game nears for Harbaugh as Niners suffer season-ending defeat in Oakland

It was a game the San Francisco 49ers could not afford to drop following the Week 13 loss to the division rival Seattle Seahawks. The Niners went into the game with their cross-bay foes the Oakalnd Raiders knowing only a win would do, but produced a listless performance all too indicative of the way this season has gone.

Defensively the Niners were diced up by the Raiders' rookie quarterback Derek Carr - who to his credit produced his best performance of the year - while the offense delivered yet another dismal offering that served as another indictment of under-fire offensive co-ordinator Greg Roman.

I normally break game reviews into the good, the bad and occasionally the ugly. However, there is no point doing that this time around as there was very little good and a heck of a lot of bad in a 24-13 defeat that was down right ugly throughout.

The frustrating thing is that what little good came from this came courtesy of the two most criminally under-used players on the 49er offense, running back Frank Gore and his lead blocker and full back Bruce Miller.

Miller scored the only San Francisco touchdown of the game, which at the time put the Niners up 7-3, however, he featured on only 16 snaps, a mere 27 percent of the offensive plays. 

Not using Miller has proven to be a formula for failure throughout the campaign, all of the 49ers' seven wins have come when he has been used on 40 percent or more, they are now 0-6 when he has not.

Meanwhile, Gore averaged 5.3 yards per carry but was given just 12 carries. The 49ers' all-time leading rusher may be 31, but he remains their best offensive threat and his absence from the gameplan is absolutely mystifying, particularly when you consider the skills he had in catching the ball out of the backfield.

Miller's touchdown should have been an indicator as to how to get Kaepernick going again. Gore, Miller and backup tailback Carlos Hyde can all catch the ball out of the backfield and hurt defenses underneath.

The Raiders executed a similar gameplan to perfection as Carr utilised dinks and dunks to work his way down the field, just as Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson on Thanksgiving. As the great saying goes, you can't go broke taking a profit. 

But instead Kaepernick, who looked short on confidence and frustrated throughout, tried to force throws into holes that were not there, throwing two interceptions in another game that served as an example of his all too apparent regression.

All too often this season, the offense has been rescued by the defense. On this occasion, though, that was not the case.

The Niners kept the Oakland run game quiet but were never able to consistently pressure Carr, sacking the first-year player just once and giving him the time to pick apart an already wafer thin secondary that was further depleted when Chris Culliver went down with an injury, although it does not appear to be serious.

Injuries appear to finally catching up with a fine defense but Vic Fangio's unit cannot take the blame for the consistent failings of an offensive group that should be much, much better.

That blame falls on an offensive co-ordinator that has never been able to settle on a consistent gameplan and play to the team's strengths, it also falls on a head coach in Jim Harbaugh whose reputation as a man skilled at transforming quarterbacks is quickly slipping away and has looked disinterested for much of the season.

Rumours of Harbaugh's departure will only intensify now the Niners' season is all but over and it is difficult to envision a scenario in which he remains San Francisco. It is pretty clear that the Harbaugh era is coming to an end. The 49ers now have a decision to make and, if this franchise wants to be a championship contender, they have to get it right.