Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.
That’s certainly what the past few NFL seasons have felt like for the 49ers, who came so close to Super Bowl glory only to stumble in the final stages.
And with the 2023 season opener kicking off in San Francisco on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, NBC Sports’ Peter King believes the upcoming 49ers campaign will end in a similar struggle.
King predicted in his weekly article “Morning Football in AmericaThe column in which the 49ers will finish the regular season as the No. 1 seed in the NFC, with a 13-4 record. It will be the tenth time in franchise history that San Francisco has earned a No. 1 seed, after finishing in No. 2 last season behind Philadelphia. Eagles.
“A team of adversity,” King said of the 49ers. “Just this: The Niners are still very good at football. (Condition: They have to sign Nick Bosa in the next few days.)”
King is certainly right about San Francisco needing to sign Bosa to an expected lucrative contract extension. But believers may object to the rest of King’s predictions.
After the 49ers, the King’s NFC seeding order is as follows: Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Seattle Seahawks, and Green Bay Packers. The last time the 49ers were the #1 seed in the NFC, they reached Super Bowl LIV and fell to the Kansas City Chiefs.
But this time, King doesn’t expect San Francisco to make it to the big game despite finishing first in the conference playoffs. After a first round bye during Super Wild Card weekend, King believes the 49ers will lose to the No. 5 seed Cowboys in the divisional round.
Oh.
San Francisco knocked longtime rivals out of the playoffs last season in a chaotic game, as then-rookie Brock Purdy helped pull off a close 23-17 win over Dallas. Getting out of the divisional round for the 49ers as the #1 seed this season is going to hurt, especially against the Cowboys – and even more so now that Tre Lance is on their roster.
But San Francisco enters 2023 with its eye on the prize and urgency at an all-time high, and now the team appears to have found its long-term answer in quarterback in Purdy. The 23-year-old is surrounded by a group of stars hungry for the franchise’s sixth Super Bowl and eager to capitalize on their status as contenders.
We’re less than a week away from the start of that mission, and the faithful are sure hoping this will be the year for the 49ers – no matter what the predictions say.
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