Getting Back To The Super Bowl

For the 49ers, it’s no longer about establishing a foundation for greatness and success.

- Craig Massei

… and this time winning it

That foundation most definitely has already been instituted, as vividly evidenced by the team’s return to prominence during a magnificent 2019 season that finished just a few minutes and a few consequential plays short of a Super Bowl championship.

That’s what it’s all about now for San Francisco — winning the Super Bowl. That’s a realistic goal now in sight. But the 49ers first have to get back to the NFL’s championship game, and that’s no easy thing for any team, not even rising young teams like San Francisco that appear built to last for the long haul and several more championship runs.

That’s what puts the 49ers in such a good position to return to play for a NFL title again next year. The team no longer is a work in progress after general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan shrewdly and meticulously constructed a balanced roster with players that work well together and implemented proven systems on both sides of the football that gives them an opportunity for success.

The 49ers aren’t a team with many holes. They won’t need a lot of changes or roster tweaks during the 2020 offseason, unlike the past three offseasons when there was a lot of work to do blowing up the roster and then putting it back together again.

The 49ers want to hold together what they have now become. But every year brings change in the NFL, so there indeed will always be changes. But instead of massive overhaul, the 49ers this time will only need some minor adjustments, both in approach and style and the way they handle their roster and financial decisions. The Niner Report is here to help with that fine-tuning, compiling a list of things the 49ers should do to not only maintain the team’s current level — but lift it one final level higher than San Francisco finished last season.