As you've probably read by now, two of three Good Morning Football hosts — Kyle Brandt and Nate Burleson — predicted that the San Francisco 49ers would miss the playoffs this season.
"That Super Bowl-loss hangover is real," Burleson explained as part of his reasoning.
NFL insider Ian Rapoport isn't so sure. At least, not when it comes to the 49ers. He feels San Francisco may be uniquely built to overcome predictions of a decline.
"I thought the Niners had kind of a really good offseason," Rapoport said on KNBR's Murph & Mac show Tuesday morning. "It wasn't like very exciting. The Trent Williams trade was exciting. … He's an upgrade, and I guess he's been as good as they thought. I mean, that's what it sounds like to me.
"So he's a good addition, and getting (the George) Kittle (deal) done is nice. But other than that, they just kind of kept most of their guys together, and I think got a little better in a couple of different places.
"To me, it's like they just maintained. And I think what happens a lot of times is when you have teams who reach the Super Bowl, it's usually time for a lot of guys to get paid, a lot of guys to become celebrities, and I think that's why it's hard to repeat. I'm not sure that happened in the Niners' case."
While the 49ers played late into last season — longer than 30 other teams — and are coming off a heartbreaking Super Bowl LIV defeat, the players and coaches sound more motivated than ever to make amends for the loss. The goal is returning to and winning the Super Bowl, but the team is maintaining a one-week-at-a-time mentality along the way.
Plus, much of the team is returning. Departures like DeForest Buckner and Emmanuel Sanders were replaced by draft picks — rookies who should be able to help offset at least some of the losses.
The bulk of the team's nucleus remains.
"Jimmy G didn't all of a sudden become a household name," Rapoport continued. "He's already a household name, and he got paid a couple of years ago. Kittle, I don't think his huge contract is going to make him block any less hard. I'm not sure that part of the Super Bowl hangover is relevant.
"They did play a lot more football than some teams, but I don't think it's a case where they just got fat and happy, and now can kind of chill for a year. I don't see that with this team."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Rapoport below.
