49ers’ Coach Shanahan Sees Superbowl Victory Within…
The first half of the 49ers’ season didn’t go as planned.
It was supposed to be the easy portion of the schedule. The 49ers were expected to be 6-2 at worst by now. But they lost to the Rams and the Cardinals in addition to the Vikings and Chiefs, and so the 49ers are 4-4 at the bye week. They haven’t beaten a good team yet and they’re struggling to close out games. They’re not the dominant team they used to be.
But they have nine regular-season games left, and Christian McCaffrey hasn’t played a down yet. Which means they still have hope that they can go to the Super Bowl and actually win it for a change.
“I feel we’re capable of doing everything else we set out for,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said on his Monday conference call. “I look at where our team is at and where I think our team can be, and I don’t think we’re there yet. I think there are a lot of things we need to improve on. I think we are gradually doing that. But I think we’ve got the guys here capable of doing it. We’ve just got to make sure we become a better team in the second half than we were in the first half.”
Shanahan’s assessment is fair and honest. The 49ers certainly have the talent to win a title, but they haven’t played up to their talent yet. They haven’t even won two games in a row. And their issues have been bigger than simply not having McCaffrey. For instance, their defense hasn’t been good.
We’ll see if the 49ers can put it all together after their bye week.
