Why The 49ers Will Go to the Super Bowl

A stacked roster getting hot at the right time, combined with the edge in experience, and the lack of proven firepower in the NFC gives the 49ers a clear road to their second Super Bowl in four seasons

After a 38-10 dismantling of the Arizona Cardinals in Mexico, the San Francisco 49ers are now 6-4 and sit atop the NFC West, currently holding the No. 3 seed in the NFC.

While the Cardinals were led by backup quarterback Colt McCoy and have been one of the disappointments of the season, one thing was made evident from the opening kickoff to the final gun -- the 49ers will make it to the Super Bowl.

Here's why.

1. The 49ers loaded defense

San Francisco has arguably the league’s best defense. They've allowed the fewest yards per game as well as the fewest rushing yards per contest in the league this season. On top of that, teams struggle to put points up against the 49ers. Their 17.3 points allowed per game is the fourth fewest in the NFL.

San Francisco has stars at every level. Nick Bosa has 10.5 sacks, which is second in the league, and the rest of the unit comprised of Arik Armstead, Kevin Givens, and Samson Ebukam make up arguably the best front four in football. The 49ers consistently get pressure with four as well, and are fourth in the league in sack percentage. With Fred Warner patrolling the middle and Charvarious Ward having a great season, you’d be hard pressed to find a better overall defense than the one in the Bay Area.

2 A balanced offense

When people think of the 49ers offense, they think of running the ball, and running the ball well with a variety of ball carriers. If we learned anything Monday night, it’s that Jimmy Garoppolo can do his part in helping the 49ers win.

Garoppolo threw four touchdown passes and finished with a passer rating of a whopping 131.9 -- by far his best showing of the season. While some will point out Garoppolo’s inconsistencies and shortcomings this season, we also should point out out the lack of offseason work with the team. It was the most overt-old story of the offseason, but Garoppolo wasn’t with the team in light of trade expectations and the team moving forward with Trey Lance.

Since relieving an injured Lance in Week 2, Garoppolo has thrown 15 touchdown passes and just four interceptions, and he hasn’t thrown an interception since October 23 against the Kansas City Chiefs. He’s feeding all the mouths in the 49ers offense as well. George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk each had two touchdown catchess, Christian McCaffrey had 16 total touches, Elijah Mitchell averaged more than six yards per carry on nine rushes and Deebo Samuel had more than 100 yards from scrimmage plus a long touchdown run. This offense is starting to click at the right time. That kind of balance in any offense, much less with a play designer such as Kyle Shanahan, is incredibly difficult to slow down.

3. The 49ers experience

The Philadelphia Eagles are the current favorites in the NFC to make it to the Super Bowl, which isn’t too difficult to comprehend. They have a loaded roster that seems to add another big name by the week, and a dynamic offense led by a dual-threat quarterback who has spent the entirety of 2022 coming out of his shell.

While the Eagles may have the best roster in football, they lack the experience that the 49ers core has. The likes of Garoppolo, Bosa, Warner, Samuel and Trent Williams -- the vast majority of their stars were on the 2019 team that made it to the Super Bowl, and San Francisco was on the cusp of another NFC Championship just 10 months ago. Jalen Hurts, Nick Siriani and a large portion of the Eagles roster doesn’t have that experience to their credit, which isn’t nothing come playoff time. The rest of the NFC is somewhat thin. The Dallas Cowboys look poised to make a run, but how many times have we said that only for them to come up small in the postseason? The Minnesota Vikings have been one of the stories of the year, but with a first-year head coach in Kevin O’Connell and a quarterback in Kirk Cousins who has never made it past the Divisional round, it just doesn’t seem logical to be absolute about anyone getting through the 49ers in the postseason.

A stacked roster getting hot at the right time, combined with the edge in experience, and the lack of proven firepower in the NFC gives the 49ers a clear road to their second Super Bowl in four seasons. If this train keeps rolling the way it has been, they will be a very difficult team to get through come January.