The NFL likes to brag about yearly parity in the league, but inside the NFC West, there appears to be a sizable gap between the two teams that made the playoffs last year and two teams that didn’t.
The 49ers have advanced to three NFC championship games in the past four seasons, but this might be their best team yet, at least on paper. All that’s missing during this successful run for the 49ers is a Lombardi Trophy.
But for the 49ers to finally complete the job, they’ll need the throwing arm of Brock Purdy, who was injured early in the NFC title game last season against the Eagles to abruptly end their quest for Super Bowl title No. 6 (the last one is from the 1994 season). If Purdy isn’t ready for the start of the season, it will need to be Sam Darnold, the ’18 No. 3 pick, who guides this stacked roster to the mountaintop.
