The San Francisco 49ers still, technically, have a chance to make the playoffs. However, in reality, their season is all but over following a 12-6 home loss to the Rams on Thursday Night Football.

With the defeat, San Francisco drops to 6-8, needing to win its final three games and a lot of help to reach the postseason. As the 49ers play out the string, the focus will soon turn to next year and, if there was one positive about the defeat, it is that it clarified a key offseason task they must accomplish.

Along with the return of Nick Bosa, the headline for the 49ers was the comeback of linebacker Dre Greenlaw from the Achilles injury he suffered in Super Bowl 58.

Greenlaw was phenomenal in his two and a half quarters on the field, totaling eight tackles and providing the energy and physicality that had been so clearly lacking throughout a disappointing campaign.

His All-Pro running mate at linebacker Fred Warner summed it up succinctly after the game: "He looked like Dre Greenlaw from the moment he started.”

But Greenlaw left the game midway through the third quarter and did not return owing to soreness and fatigue, with his exit sparking an upturn for a Los Angeles offense that had been impressively stymied throughout a slugfest in sodden conditions at Levi's Stadium.

Los Angeles' longest drive across the Rams' eight possessions went for 38 yards and lasted 10 plays. 

With Greenlaw off the field, the Rams immediately went on a 17-play drive that gained 80 yards and ended in a field goal.

While the defense was far from the primary problem in a game in which the 49er offense continually handcuffed itself by forcing the ball to a struggling Deebo Samuel, it was not able to have the same success without Greenlaw at the second level.

Indeed, the Rams went on drives of 59 yards and 69 yards to clinch the game in the fourth quarter. Though the 49ers' defense performed extremely well in the red zone to keep the Rams out of the endzone, its efforts without Greenlaw simply weren't enough with the offense producing anaemic play on the other side.

The 49ers now have a mini-bye to stew over what is, in essence, the end of their season as a relevant team. For the front office, though, it did serve to make one decision very easy for them.

Greenlaw is a free agent this offseason and there might have been some trepidation about paying him coming off the Achilles injury and long spell on the sideline.

That trepidation should now be gone. The defensive coordinator could well be different in 2025, but it's clear the top two linebackers should be the same.

Greenlaw is still only 27 and, with a 10-month lay-off seemingly no impediment to him whatsoever in his first game back, there's already a decent amount of evidence that he has several more seasons of elite play left in the tank.

Asked how Greenlaw was able to play to that standard right off the bat, Warner replied: "He's always been a freak of nature, he's just one of those type of guys."

Those are the type of guys the 49ers need as they look to move forward from a massive letdown year, and that was illustrated not just by Greenlaw's performance, but also by his stand-in for most of the year, De'Vondre Campbell, quitting on the team in the third quarter when asked to come into the game.

San Francisco might be wise to invest in more insurance at linebacker in the offseason to protect against any setbacks for Greenlaw. However, it became glaringly obvious in the space of one half that, in an offseason in which the 49ers have a mountainous to-do list that includes a potential extension for Brock Purdy, keeping Greenlaw on the roster is an absolute must.

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He looks certain to be cut.