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Are the 49ers Overrated? The Athletic Says Yes

I agree that one could make the argument that the 49ers are overrated, but I don't think Jones made a convincing argument.

Grant Cohn

May 10, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers rookie offensive linemen rest during the rookie minicamp at Leviís Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. Mandatory Credit: Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports
May 10, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers rookie offensive linemen rest during the rookie minicamp at Leviís Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. Mandatory Credit: Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports
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For the past five years, the 49ers have been the trendy pick to win the Super Bowl. That trend might have changed.

The Athletic's Mike Jones recently argued that the 49ers are one of the NFL's four most overrated teams this year along with the Chargers, the Colts and the Ravens.

"Kyle Shanahan always gives them a chance," writes Jones, "and Brock Purdy again has a talented supporting cast, although Brandon Aiyuk faces an uncertain future. Questions loom over the defense, however, with first-year coordinator Nick Sorensen directing a unit that lost Arik Armstead and Javon Kinlaw to free agency and must deal with the extended absence of Dre Greenlaw, who is recovering from Achilles surgery. The 49ers hope to put another heartbreaking Super Bowl defeat in the past and make another run at a ring, but doing so could prove more challenging than many expect."

I agree that one could make the argument that the 49ers are overrated, but I don't think Jones made a convincing argument.

First, he focuses on the defense as the main reason the 49ers are overrated. At this point, the 49ers defense has taken so much criticism that it's probably underrated. It gave up the third-fewest points in the NFL last season and performed decidedly well in the Super Bowl against the Chiefs.

If the 49ers are overrated, it's not because of their defense or their injuries -- it's because of their head coach. If they have an Achilles' heel, it's Shanahan's inability to close out Super Bowls when he has the lead in the second half. That's his pattern.

So even though the 49ers have an elite defense and an excellent young quarterback who always gives them a chance, they still haven't been able to overcome their head coach's tragic flaw.

That's why the 49ers are overrated.

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Grant Cohn

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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