THE San Francisco 49ers fell to 5-6 and last place in the NFC West with a 38-10 blowout loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon. Nothing has gone well for the defending NFC champions, who have failed to overcome a rash of significant injuries.

That’s been the theme of San Francisco’s season so far. Injuries have played a significant role in this slower-than-expected start. That said, even with Brock Purdy, Nick Bosa, Charvarius Ward and Trent Williams all inactivethere is no excuse for the malaise that characterized San Francisco’s performance in Green Bay. There is a distinct difference between being overwhelmed and dominated; the Niners were both on Sunday.

San Francisco is running out of time to turn things around this season. The playoffs are still within reach and it’s too early to count on such a talented group, but it’s been an extremely frustrating season for the Niners. This is starting to boil over, especially in the fandom. The Niners have the pieces to put together a run, but if the players aren’t connected enough and the coaches can’t get sharper performances, that talent won’t mean much. Obviously, better health would also help.

Now below .500 on the season, here are the Niners who punched a ticket to the bench with Sunday’s stinker.

Jake Brendel continues to frustrate Niners fandom with his performance at center. The O-line in general has been a disappointment this season, but the middle man has been particularly inconsistent against quality passes. Brendel missed several blocks on Sunday and contributed to San Francisco’s dire situation nine penalties. He’s also responsible for one of the best photos of the NFL season, unless you’re a Niners fan.

Not ideal. Brendel’s effort and commitment are simply not up to par. He’s in the middle of San Francisco’s O-line — a seven-year NFL veteran with 47 starts under his belt — and the man looks completely lost. The Niners obviously benefited from the return of Christian McCaffrey, but this offense has a hard enough time operating without so many key pieces. This becomes almost impossible if Brendel allows a constant flow of pressure into the esophagus.

There are of course more people to blame, but I’m not sure there’s a single Niner who has more consistently upset the fanbase this season than Brendel. He is literally the focus of every play run, but his technique and effort on the blocking front continues to disappoint.

With Brock Purdy sidelined with a shoulder injury, former undrafted free agent Brandon Allen got his 10th NFL start for the 49ers on Sunday. To put it bluntly, the 32-year-old was not cut out for the task. He completed 17 of 29 passes for 199 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The Niners’ offense struggled to move the football throughout the game, which isn’t entirely the fault of Allen, but the QB understandably bears most of the blame.

The Niners are one of the few teams with three legitimate quarterbacks on the roster. Josh Dobbs, who had a few successful starts last season, is currently listed at QB3 on San Francisco’s depth chart. It seems pretty obvious that he should get the nod in Week 13 if Purdy is out of commission.

Now, is Dobbs a knight in shining armor? Of course not. His “success” last season generally preceded a sharp decline. There’s a reason the Niners didn’t go straight to him. But unless Daniel Jones is on San Francisco’s radar, there aren’t many better options. Dobbs can at least put a few decent games under his belt in a pinch. Even messed up and out of whack, this Niners offense is loaded with talent and led by one of the best players in the NFL. Maybe Dobbs could do something.

It’s been a tough season for Deebo Samuel, who hit a new low in Sunday’s loss. The Niners are already dealing with the extended absence of Brandon Aiyuk, which leaves a lot of pressure on Samuel’s shoulders. This is also a contract year for the veteran, so he has a lot of incentive to perform beyond the obvious desire to contend for a Super Bowl.

And yet, Samuel just isn’t having it. He caught one of four targets for 21 yards Sunday and committed a couple of flagrant drops, one of which preceded Allen’s only interception of the game.

We can drop Brendel and Allen all we want, but it’s tough – especially for a quarterback – when your “best” receiver can’t separate or convert a basic pitch-and-catch. These are disputed traffic drops. Samuel is eating ten cents. His versatility has been the foundation of Kyle Shanahan’s offense for so long, but the Niners simply can’t trust Samuel right now. That leaves a gaping hole in the middle of a WR room that’s suddenly shaping up to be one of the worst in the NFL.

Everything is going bad for the Niners right now. This season is salvageable and reinforcements are on the way in the coming weeks, but there isn’t much upside from a 28-point loss to a bitter NFC rival. Backup QB or not, it was a demoralizing loss that could come back to haunt San Francisco.