49ers Have Their Best Chance to Win a Super Bowl Than in Previous Seasons
One win away.
That is all it is going to take for the San Francisco 49ers to reach the Super Bowl for the first time in three years. This is also going to be the second straight season that the 49ers are competing in the NFC title game.
Kyle Shanahan is three-for-three on making the title game whenever he gets the 49ers into the playoffs. Each playoff run had its own unique shot at making and winning the Super Bowl. They just fell short due to mistakes and facing a greater opponent. Both of those seasons have felt like a tremendous chance for the 49ers to finally cash in on title No. 6. But those two playoff runs pale in comparison to the shot they have right now.
The 49ers have their best chance to win a Super Bowl right now than they had in previous seasons. Looking back at the 2019 and 2021 playoff runs, there was a common theme on the 49ers. That commonality was that they had one offensive player performing at an astronomical level.
In 2019 it was Raheem Mostert when he became the lead running back. He was magnificent in the second half of the regular season and was even better in the playoffs. Then once the 49ers reached the Super Bowl, it was like he didn't exist. Mostert didn't get his first handoff until the second-quarter of the game and just really never got going in the game. Without his significant impact like in previous games, the 49ers fell off.
Last season it was Deebo Samuel who broke out in an All Pro campaign that saw him dominate first as a pure wide receiver, then convert into a running back. He was the epitome of the 49ers offense. The team would only go as far as he did. Sure enough, the 49ers season ended when the Rams were able to bottle him up in the NFC championship game. With no one else to go to, the 49ers became stagnant.
Other factors, of course, came into play with why the 49ers couldn't achieve Super Bowl success in 2019 and 2021. But the overarching point here is that those 49ers teams were driven by a singular player on offense. And unless that singular player is a quarterback, it is going to be a struggle to win the Super Bowl. Each of those 49ers teams had tremendous defenses too, so that eventually becomes moot in the highest levels of playoff football. Teams can't just rely on one player to shoulder the burden of the offense as the 49ers have proven.
That isn't the case with the 49ers this year and it is why this is their prime chance to win a Super Bowl. There isn't a player who they singularly rely upon to carry the team like Mostert in 2019 and Samuel in 2021. Sure, there have been several games where Christian McCaffrey has been that player to do so, but most of the success this season has been a collective effort. Brandon Aiyuk is having the best season of his career, George Kittle looks like a revitalized elite receiver, Elijah Mitchell is the perfect spell running back, and Samuel is always capable of exploding.
Oh yea, and the defense is STILL a dominant side. The 49ers have options and can adapt to any situation now that they have a variety of ways to attack. The best part of all is that their quarterback now is a major upgrade from those two playoff runs. Brock Purdy is a significantly better quarterback than Jimmy Garoppolo, especially in the playoffs. So far he's taking care of the football, not folding under playoff pressure, and giving the 49ers an explosive passing attack.
The offense is perfectly balanced and optimized with Purdy. Running the ball will still be their strength, but they are an offense who can do serious damage through the air and not rely on one player. Defenses can only take away so many players, so all the 49ers have to do is identify who that is and utilize their other star players. Everything is laid out perfectly for the 49ers to go get their sixth Super Bowl this season than their last two shots. It's easily their best chance right now given the way their team is playing and structured.
All they have to is hurdle the Eagles in the NFC championship game, which will by no means be an easy outing. But this 49ers team has to take advantage of their best ever playoff team under Shanahan.
