What’s next, 49ers? (Pt 1)
We all watched this season as the Niners offense tore up the league — scoring 28.9 points per game with an offense wielding the likes of Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk, Trent Williams, Brock Purdy, Kyle Juszczyk, and the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, Christian McCaffrey. With offensive mastermind Kyle Shanahan at the helm they torched teams like the Steelers (30–7) and Cowboys (42–10) early in the season before hitting a rough spot in weeks 6–8 with losses to the Browns, Vikings, and Bengals. Shanahan and company got back on track with their dismantling of Jaguars (34–3) and remained one of the hottest teams in the league en route to the number one seed in the NFC.
All those superstars on the offense doesn’t discount this defense mind you, and they have some straight up dawgs running around at every level of their top-5 ranked defense. Nick Bosa came in after an off season holdout which netted him an NFL record for a defensive player: $122.5 million guaranteed with the potential to be worth upwards of $170 million over 5 years. Such a contract is needed to retain the previous season’s Defensive Player of the Year. Speaking of DPOY, the Niners own the luxury of having a player of that same caliber in MLB Fred Warner roaming the second level as the general of the defense who also serves as the team’s leader in the locker room. Talents like those two paired with secondary players like Mooney Ward, Talanoa Hufanga, Deommodore Lenoir, and rookie Ji’Ayir Brown, which makes for a crazy lineup on paper. Not to mention players like Javon Hargrove, Arik Armstead, Dre Greenlaw, and Chase Young who was added at the trade deadline this year.
All these players in what seems like the primes of their careers playing in unison on both sides of the ball for a coach and GM who’ve meticulously put together this roster after years of trial and error at QB, and a myriad of injuries to key players at crucial moments during the Lynch/Shanahan Era. A turnstile of a coaching staff that’ve all been hired off to join Shanahan’s minions across the league in recent years. In 2023 the stars seemed to align for the Niners to win it all, and take home the trophy with close comeback wins over the Packers (24–21) and Lions (34–31) - the second coming on the back of a 17 point deficit at halftime. The Niners spent all their luck though, ultimately blowing a 10 point lead in the Super Bowl to the Kansas Chiefs in what seemed to be a “down” year for Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. What seemed like a perfect opportunity for the Niners to finally justify for some, the seven long years of hard work and dedication in a Super Bowl victory was stolen from them in front of their very eyes. The days, weeks, and months following the 49ers second Super Bowl loss would prove to be complicated as they look to navigate the offseason, free agency, and subsequently the 2024 NFL Draft.
What’s next, 49ers?
Written by: Bryant (Beans) Aguilar, NFL Analyst at Life in the Stands
