Anything Less Than a Super Bowl Win is a Failure for the 49ers
2023 was nothing short of an incredible year for the San Francisco 49ers.
The defense was as elite as ever, the running game was a monster with Christian McCaffrey, and Brock Purdy turned out to be the "real deal" as Kyle Shanahan claimed. The 49ers haven't had a great season like this since 2019, and sure enough they are the No. 1 seed in the NFC like they were that year too.
Unfortunately, the 49ers fell short of a Super Bowl victory in 2019. This year they find themselves likely to appear in the Super Bowl again. The NFC isn't a strong conference as it was in that year, and the 49ers now have an actual starting quarterback. No team in the NFC should stand in their way, so their real difficulties will be with whichever AFC team they face in the Super Bowl. With that said, I fully expect the 49ers to make the Super Bowl and they should win it no matter who is in front of them.
Anything less than a Super Bowl win this year is a failure for the 49ers. They have been surging since November with their only real blemish coming against the Baltimore Ravens, their likely opponent in the Super Bowl. San Francisco is a cut above the rest of the NFC teams. No one can prove to derail them. Everything is aligned for the 49ers this year, especially because they have a real quarterback in Purdy.
Every time the 49ers are in the playoffs, what has led to their demise is the quarterback position. In 2019 and 2021, it was Jimmy Garoppolo who failed to step up. In 2022, it was an injury to Purdy that ruined the 49ers' chances of returning to the Super Bowl. Purdy is a Pro Bowl quarterback and nearly an All-Pro this season. And speaking of All-Pro players, the 49ers have seven of them this year. They have every reason to win the Super Bowl. They don't have a reason to lose it barring injury.
Should they fail, then a tsunami of criticism will justifiably come their way.
