Much of the preseason analysis of the 49ers has set aside the difficulty of going back to the Super Bowl after losing one. It doesn’t happen often, and it happens even less since the turn of the century.
San Francisco’s ability to break trends has helped them reach the point of perennial contenderdom though, and that’s the reason they’re still ranked No. 2 in a pre-training camp power ranking from the Athletic. The 49ers have managed to buck modern NFL convention in multiple ways en route to four NFC title game and two Super Bowl appearances in the last five seasons.
The 49ers are the NFL’s narrative busters. Need a top-10 quarterback to compete at the highest level? Nope. San Francisco has gone to two Super Bowls and two more NFC title games with Brock Purdy and Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback. There are consequences for missing on a top-five quarterback? Not for the Niners. This team traded three first-round picks to draft Trey Lance No. 3 in 2021 and hasn’t missed a beat despite Lance already being off the team. Kyle Shanahan, despite his near misses, might be underpaid.
A 2024 campaign that ends with a Super Bowl win would be the ultimate ‘narrative buster’ for the 49ers. They’ve managed to do it under center, and now they’ll give themselves a chance to do something only the 2017-18 Patriots have done since the 1971-72 Dolphins: Win a Super Bowl the year after losing one.
This is already an impressive run for San Francisco under head coach Kyle Shanahan, but all of this tumult culminating in the franchise’s sixth Super Bowl victory would put a well-earned cherry on top.
