Why the 49ers refuse to believe the Super Bowl window is closed

Kyle Shanahan refutes the Super Bowl window talk.

Dec 22, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan leaves the field after the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch era with the San Francisco 49ers has now completed its ninth season in the NFL.

Together, the pair have reached two Super Bowls, two NFC Championship Games, and at least the Divisional Round in every season that ended in the playoffs.

Despite this obvious success, the glaring absence of a sixth Lombardi Trophy looms over them. They’ve come one quarter and one drive away from the ultimate prize in football on two separate occasions.

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

But since the 2023 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs, the 49ers have been forced to make a series of changes following a 6–11 campaign in 2024, a season that saw many veterans depart.

Therefore, it was reasonable to believe the ‘Super Bowl window’ had closed on that core of players.

But long-term injuries to key players in 2025 reopened the conversation about the window for an ageing group, notably Kyle Juszczyk, George Kittle, and Trent Williams.

"People talked about that a lot last year and how many people we lost and everything like that. So, I really haven’t thought about windows or anything like that anymore," said Shanahan on Wednesday.

"We’ve got a lot of good players on our team that were a part of teams that got real close to winning the Super Bowl a number of years ago. And each year it’s going to be a whole different deal.

"I’m proud to a degree of what we accomplished this year, but we didn’t accomplish what we totally want to accomplish.

"We’re going to try to accomplish that every year. Some years we’re going to have better chances than others.

"But, I struggle when people talk about windows and things like that because you’ve always got a shot, you’ve always got a shot to get in the playoffs and you’ve always got a chance to win a playoff game.

"It’s never the best of seven in a series. Your whole goal is to get to those playoffs regardless of what type of team you think you have and if you get there you’ve always got a shot."

The 49ers have enjoyed plenty of success in recent years, but with an ageing roster and no Super Bowl win, it would be a shame if generational stars at fullback, tight end, and left tackle ended their careers without a ring on their finger. 2026 might just be the final chance for Williams in particular.

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