Enjoy your final few moments of serenity, Niners fans.
Sometime in the next four weeks, the San Francisco 49ers and the Faithful will either experience the highest of highs or the lowest of lows.
There will be no in between.
As the team embarks on another playoff run under the Kyle Shanahan-John Lynch leadership tandem in the NFC Divisional Round on Saturday night, the stakes are as high as a field-flipping Mitch Wishnowsky punt.
Three more wins will send millions of people across Northern California into unbridled euphoria having finally exorcised demons that have lurked through Candlestick Park and Levi’s Stadium for 30 years, dating back to the Niners’ last Super Bowl title.
But for as rapturous as the Faithful would be with the Niners finally completing the #QuestforSix, anything short of that will be devastating for a team so carefully sculpted, at the cost of hundreds of millions in York family money and numerous future first-round draft picks.
In more than a decade of heartbreak, this season’s potential devastation would stand out above the rest and lead to an avalanche of questions about when, if ever, the moment will arrive.
There are a multitude of factors that have made the 2024 postseason run an inflection point in the franchise’s history.
Let’s start with the actual team. They’re the Avengers at full force long before Captain America and Iron Man traded blows, or Thanos snapped his fingers.
While the 49ers have had many talented teams during their championship drought, this year’s group is a cut above. The team rosters arguably the league’s best offensive lineman (Trent Williams), running back (Christian McCaffrey), linebacker (Fred Warner), edge rusher (Nick Bosa) and, just for good measure, fullback (Kyle Juszczyk). That doesn’t account for the other stars in at nearly every position group, like wide receivers Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, tight end George Kittle, cornerback Charvarius Ward and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave.
But beyond the stacked supporting cast, Shanahan finally found the perfect conductor to orchestrate his own San Francisco Symphony —or, more accurately Santa Clara Symphony — in quarterback Brock Purdy.
The tiresome debate about how much Purdy is a product of the offense or vice versa — the truth, in this Examiner writer’s opinion, lies somewhere in between — will continue, but what can’t be argued is how unrelenting the Niners’ attack has been with him at the helm.
When the machine has been in tune and healthy this year, they’ve been as dominant as any NFL team has ever been, save for a highly watched Christmas stumble against the Baltimore Ravens. That squad is likely the biggest hurdle the team will have to clear en route to the title.
Ex // Top Stories
San Francisco Baykeeper alleges that The City discharges a mix of sewage and other pollutants during heavy rains, which could pose a public-health risk
The Department of Elections said it expects to certify the results of The City’s election within the next two weeksÂ
Majority of voters supported Mayor London Breed’s ballot measure to boost the downtown economy
Expectations-driven pressure for a roster supersized with talent is one thing. The added pressure stemming from the 49ers’ close championship calls the past two decades are another.
Kyle Williams’ two fumbles in the 2012 NFC Championship Game. Last-second incompletions to Michael Crabtree to end the 2013 and 2014 postseasons. Blowing a 10-point, fourth-quarter lead in Super Bowl LIV. Back-to-back losses in the last two NFC Championship games, one marred by a dropped interception and another sullied by literally every quarterback on the roster getting hurt. The last two seasons have ended in the NFC Championship,
Poor play and poor timing have made the last few postseasons miserable for the Niners.
But finally, in these playoffs, the football gods seemingly parted the skies for the team to ascend to the glorious heavens.
The playoffs’ first weekend couldn’t have worked out any better, with arguably their three toughest NFC opponents — the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams — all losing.
The Green Bay Packers — San Francisco’s opponents on Saturday — and the Detroit Lions and Tampa Buccaneers — San Francisco’s potential opponents in the NFC Championship Game — aren’t nearly as daunting.
The Ravens loom in the AFC, assuming they get past the Houston Texans this weekend, as do star quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. But San Francisco can, on its best day, beat Baltimore, the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills.
A 49ers loss on Saturday, or in the NFC Championship Game, or Super Bowl LVIII, would end their season and move them closer to their expiration date.
Aiyuk, Ward, safety Talanoa Hufanga, defensive lineman Arik Armstead and linebacker Dre Greenlaw all need new contracts after next season, and San Francisco might not be able to afford each of them under the salary cap.
Purdy will, in all likelihood, be paid like one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks and not the last pick in the 2022 draft when his contract expires in 2026. Left tackle Trent Williams is an ageless wonder, but he appears closer to retirement with each passing season, and the 49ers don’t have an obvious in-house replacement who can protect Purdy as well.
It seems cruel to call a single season full of so much success a failure if it doesn’t end in a Super Bowl win. But for these 49ers, between their history and roster composition, there is no other option.
All of the 49ers’ all-in efforts have culminated in this season, the most win-now season they’ve ever had.
So if not now, when?
