49ers Season Prediction: Super Bowl or Bust

Seven minutes.

The San Francisco 49ers were seven minutes away from hoisting the Lombardi Trophy for the sixth time in franchise history.

Then came the crashing of a lifetime. Seeing the 49ers blow their 10 point lead that late into game was a stab to the heart to the team and the 49er faithful.

Now 2020 is all about those seven minutes, dubbed "the revenge tour." It is all that will be replaying in the minds of the 49ers throughout the season as they embark on their Super Bowl or bust campaign.

That is right. Anything less than a Super Bowl victory in 2020 is a complete and utter waste. The 49ers need to win it all just like they should have last season.

And just like last season, the NFC is stacked with elite teams.

Getting to the Super Bowl will prove to be a difficult and rugged uphill climb in this conference and the NFC West again. The New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks are always teams not to be overlooked. And now even the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a threat. These are just a select few teams that will look to make the 49ers' 2020 season a busted one.

But there is one major factor, especially given the bizarre offseason, that will give the 49ers one step through the door of the Super Bowl.

It is their continuity.

Continuity can never be overstated in any given season. It is exponentially more critical this season thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the defense, the 49ers only lost one coach in defensive backs coach Joe Woods, and All Pro DeForest Buckner. I expect the defense to drop off a bit, but it will still be one of the best units out there. On the offense, all of their offensive coaches have returned aside from receivers coach Miles Austin. Emmanuel Sanders, Mike Person, Matt Breida and Joe Staley are the key players that have departed. But the 49ers have replaced these guys astoundingly and should see no hiccups on offense.

Having minimal turnover is going to reduce or even eliminate the learning curve needed for the 49ers to hit their stride. This is still a powerhouse and dominant football team. The national media may want to crown the Seahawks as the favorite of the division, but they are sorely undervaluing the little details such as continuity and the motivation from choking the Super Bowl away.

It all starts on Sunday at Levi's Stadium when they host the Arizona Cardinals. Winning that game is going to be paramount to establishing their strangle hold of the NFC once again. Let's not forget that there is only one bye team allowed for the playoffs this season, which will be the No. 1 seed. Earning that bye easily tipped the scale to the 49ers as clear cut favorites to make it to the Super Bowl. If they can do it again, they should be a lock to make it. That all depends on their record.

Season Prediction

13-3 was needed to clinch the top seed and a first-round bye in the NFC last season. It likely may be the case again. The 49ers could achieve this record again, but I am predicting a 12-4 record for them. This record should at least give them the division and one or two games with homefield advantage. The less traveling the 49ers have in January, the better it will be to return to the Super Bowl should they not achieve a bye week.

Assuming the 49ers earn a top three seed, I fully expect them to return to the Super Bowl. It is just difficult for me to say that the Saints are going to be edge them in January. The Saints always manage to blow it either because Drew Brees' arm turns into a noodle or Sean Payton's coaching becomes erratic.

So the 49ers will make it to the Super Bowl and, after seeing Thursday night's season opener, their opponent will once again be the Kansas City Chiefs. This is the matchup the football world deserves because of the elite coaching and talent both teams have. I will not go as far as to predict who will win, but I will say it should be the 49ers given what they went through last season.

Lets see if the 49ers can turn my prediction into reality when they kick things off on Sunday.