The San Francisco 49ers have been a dominant force in the NFL for the past four to five seasons. In that span, they have had only one losing season in 2020 where they failed to reach the playoffs.
Keeping aside that one setback, the 49ers have made it to the NFC Championship Game four times, making it to the Super Bowl twice (they lost both times).
With the vast majority of the players coming back for the 2024 season, the following five reasons provide San Francisco with another opportunity to not just return to the big game, but to win it.
Kyle Shanahan
Kyle Shanahan is a mastermind of a head coach.
There are many who believe that he can’t get it done in the big game and that he may not be the answer to the 49ers Super Bowl hopes. However, Shanahan has been able to turn around a franchise that was struggling at the bottom of the NFC West for nearly five years before he took over.
The job that Shanahan has done is remarkable considering that he has taken and built a team from the bottom to near Super Bowl champions more than once.
Shanahan is an excellent play caller, and his ability to involve running backs in the game has been a highlight of his coaching tenure. The 49ers coach has also demonstrated an ability to orchestrate an offense around less talented quarterbacks, which is a huge advantage in a league where the signal caller is the key player on the field more often than not.
Having a coach of his caliber is one of the most important reasons why San Francisco should be in the running to lift yet another Lombardi Trophy.
The 49ers’ running game
As mentioned earlier, the 49ers’ running game is quite impressive with Shanahan scheming up various plays. On top of that, Christian McCaffrey has been a revelation ever since he joined the west-coast outfit.
McCaffrey’s first full season with the 49ers was last year in which he impressed by winning the Offensive Player of the Year Award. He finished the 2023 campaign with the most rushing yards in the league with a total of 1,459.
Offensive creativity
The 49ers are known to run creative plays and get their offensive targets open down the field. San Francisco’s system has worked wonders for them over the past few years, as Shanahan has been able to get the best out of different quarterbacks despite them not being the most talented.
McCaffrey provides more creativity on the offensive front as a reliable pass-catching option while Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and Jauan Jennings are the main receiving targets. Plus the 49ers have one of the league’s best tight ends in George Kittle.
Samuel is often used as a secondary running back and also takes jet sweeps from time to time, which adds another dimension to the Niners’ evolving offensive creativity.
The 49ers are stacked on both sides of the ball
Looking at the overall roster of the 49ers, they are quite well-balanced on both sides of the ball with legitimate stars at several key positions. While we have already discussed most of the offensive threat that they possess, Trent Williams on the offensive line and Kyle Juszczyk playing the fullback position are both more than handy players to have.
As for the San Francisco defense, Nick Bosa is the biggest threat as a pass rusher and he has been simply outstanding in this run of the past four years. Bosa is very tough to contain off the line and is great at getting to opposing quarterbacks.
Behind him, the linebacker duo of Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw also work well in tandem (although Greenlaw is recovering from a torn Achilles). Warner especially has been another leader on that side of the ball who not only getting better each year but is making big plays at crucial times.
The NFC is the weaker conference
Another big reason the 49ers can win the Super Bowl in the 2024 season is because the NFC is still the much weaker conference. Considering the NFC West in which the 49ers play, the Seahawks and Cardinals are not expected to challenge San Francisco, leaving only the Rams to contend with.
Other big teams in the NFC are the Eagles, Cowboys, and Lions, but the Niners have the overall experience and coaching advantage over the other teams.
Having reached the Super Bowl twice in Shanahan’s era, it is now time for the 49ers to take the next step and hoist the Lombardi in the 2024 season.
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