The San Francisco 49ers are watching the Wild Card while enjoying their BYE, with one wide receiver offering his take on Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The Dolphins were defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs 26-7 on January 13, and Tagovailoa had a night to forget.
In negative-degree weather, Tagovailoa completed 20 of 39 passes for 199 yards, one touchdown and one interception. For 49ers wide receiver Willie Snead, the Dolphins will be a more serious playoff contender when Tua toughens up.
“The Dolphins will be good when Tua stop acting soft AF,” Snead wrote on X on January 13.
It’s a bit of a random call-out from Snead IV. The 31-year-old has never played for Miami, nor has he played for any AFC East rivals. The connection between the 49ers and the Dolphins is well-documented, but Snead doesn’t really have anything to do with that.
Either way, the loss does put additional heat on former San Francisco offensive coordinator and Miami head coach Mike McDaniel. The 40-year-old coach has had plenty of regular season success in his two years since leaving the 49ers. But he is now 0-2 in the playoffs and has not won a division title.
Steve Wilks to Be Next Coordinator to Leave?
Under head coach Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers have been a coordinator-to-head coach pipeline. McDaniel, New York Jets HC Robert Saleh and Houston Texans HC DeMeco Ryans are all expected to be in their respective positions ahead of the 2024 seasons.
Now, 49ers DC Steve Wilks appears to be next in line. Wilks has head coaching experience with the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers, but could be leaving with interest from the Atlanta Falcons, as CBS’ Jonathan Jones recently reported on January 10.
“The Falcons have requested permission to interview 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks for their vacant head coach position, source says,” Jones wrote on X.
Heavy’s Sean Deveney recently broke down how Wilks was requested for an interview with the Chargers. It’s not a guarantee that he’ll get a HC job this offseason, but there does appear to be significant interest from various NFL teams.
49ers Watching Sunday, Monday Closely
While the opening two Wild Card games did not feature the NFC, Sunday is NFC exclusive. The Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys square off, as do the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions. On Monday, the Wild Card will be rounded out by the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
San Francisco will be hosting the lowest seed remaining in the Divisional Round. In terms of potential opponents that the 49ers have already faced this season, they are 4-1 with the only in the final regular season game against the Rams.
Should all the higher seeds win, that would mean the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will make the trip to Levi’s Stadium. For a NFC West rematch against Los Angeles, the Rams would need to beat the Lions while the Packers must lose.
No matter what, Shanahan and the 49ers organization will be paying close attention to all their potential opponents in the second-ever “Super” Wild Card weekend.
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49ers WR Sounds Off on Tua Tagovailoa After Dolphins Loss: ‘Stop Acting Soft’