2012 and 2019

From a combination of boredom and Kap being in the news lately I have been watching some games from 2012 in little 30 minute bunches while killing time and it really is amazing how good that team was.

It is a really weird feeling how much nostalgia and love I have for that 2011-2013 team, but also how much I love the current team.

Yet other than the jerseys and until recently Staley, they are totally different teams.

Seeing Harbaugh on the sidelines makes me remember how much I love him, but I love Shanny too.
Watching Kap makes me remember how I honestly believed he was our next HOF Legend, but now I love Jimmy G too.
The D was insane and totally loaded, but they are now too.
Same with offense. I loved VD, Gore, Walker etc, but man I love Kittle and the crew just as much now.

What is my point? I guess I don't really have one but it is so surreal to think of how great both of these teams are, and it is a complete turnover of the entire roster, coaches, and GM, but yet they are only a few season apart. How incredible is it that they went from complete dumpster fire in 2010, to the top, then right to the bottom, then back at the top all in 9 years?

I have been a fan since the late 80's and it is amazing to me how the Niners are either title contender or complete crap. They have rarely been one of those 9-7 lose in the 1st round every year type of teams.

Anyways, hope everyone is having a good off season and if you want to watch a fun game go watch SF vs NE from 2012.

The big thing the teams have in common is that their resurgence came out of nowhere. Harbaugh came and transformed the team overnight. We could see Kyle building up the team, but they went from 4-12 to SB contender so in a sense that was overnight. It's been a roller coaster ride of a soap opera for the Faithful this decade.

Originally posted by thl408:

The big thing the teams have in common is that their resurgence came out of nowhere. Harbaugh came and transformed the team overnight. We could see Kyle building up the team, but they went from 4-12 to SB contender so in a sense that was overnight. It's been a roller coaster ride of a soap opera for the Faithful this decade.

And we have the drama queens in NT to prove it

All we can hope is that this current team isnt completely dismantled in a 2 year stretch like the 2012 team was.

And in the superbowl, the '12 team didn't show up in the first half, and the '19 team faded in the 4th qtr. We could have 7 damn rings!

Originally posted by thl408:
The big thing the teams have in common is that their resurgence came out of nowhere. Harbaugh came and transformed the team overnight. We could see Kyle building up the team, but they went from 4-12 to SB contender so in a sense that was overnight. It's been a roller coaster ride of a soap opera for the Faithful this decade.

So true.

For those who spent time watching the 2011/12 team prior to Harbaugh, the frustrating thing was that there was talent on the roster but the players had lost confidence in themselves. From that perspective, 2012 was not as much a big surprise as it was a fulfillment of what should have been before.

The current team was somewhat the same deal in that the 2018 team had talent but was destroyed by injuries, Jimmy's being the most obvious. Hence, 2019 was again a fulfillment rather than a total surprise.

A big difference in the two teams was the HC style. Harbaugh always burned red-hot. That got old. Kyle understands the players much better and stays more even keel. That will last where Harbaugh has proven he doesn't. (is Wu watching ? )

What comes to mind is that we should have two more Superbowls but we didn't play our best and were on the wrong side of the calls.

I'm not one to always blame the refs but I still challenge anyone to find two Superbowls as lopsided in officiating as those two.

The only other Superbowl that comes to mind is the Seahawks vs Steelers one.

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by thl408:
The big thing the teams have in common is that their resurgence came out of nowhere. Harbaugh came and transformed the team overnight. We could see Kyle building up the team, but they went from 4-12 to SB contender so in a sense that was overnight. It's been a roller coaster ride of a soap opera for the Faithful this decade.

So true.

For those who spent time watching the 2011/12 team prior to Harbaugh, the frustrating thing was that there was talent on the roster but the players had lost confidence in themselves. From that perspective, 2012 was not as much a big surprise as it was a fulfillment of what should have been before.

The current team was somewhat the same deal in that the 2018 team had talent but was destroyed by injuries, Jimmy's being the most obvious. Hence, 2019 was again a fulfillment rather than a total surprise.

A big difference in the two teams was the HC style. Harbaugh always burned red-hot. That got old. Kyle understands the players much better and stays more even keel. That will last where Harbaugh has proven he doesn't. (is Wu watching ? )

Perhaps the biggest difference is the way the front office and coaches are now working together and how they genuinely enjoy one another. The way Kyle endured two poor W/L seasons and kept the train on track spoke volumes towards the relationship between coach, front office, and ownership. At no point did they point fingers.

Originally posted by SteveWallacesHelmet:

All we can hope is that this current team isnt completely dismantled in a 2 year stretch like the 2012 team was.

From what we can tell Shanahan and Lynch genuinely like each other where as Harbaugh and Baalke didn't, we always heard news about something those years while you never hear a squick now, the reason the team was dismantled is bc Jed chose the wrong guy, fired harbaugh instead of Baalke, Harbaugh deserved what he wanted which was more control.

Originally posted by jersey49er:

Originally posted by SteveWallacesHelmet:
All we can hope is that this current team isnt completely dismantled in a 2 year stretch like the 2012 team was.

From what we can tell Shanahan and Lynch genuinely like each other where as Harbaugh and Baalke didn't, we always heard news about something those years while you never hear a squick now, the reason the team was dismantled is bc Jed chose the wrong guy, fired harbaugh instead of Baalke, Harbaugh deserved what he wanted which was more control.

AGree. Big difference there between the two organizations. Add in the fact that (looking back in hindsight) Kyle is the better OC vs HarRoman. I think ShanaLynch are the better talent evaluators vs HarBaalke.

Going forward I really look towards undrafted free agents and low round picks making the team and doing well like GreenLaw, Bourne, Breida. If the Draft/Free Agency/Cap is negatively affecting your talent acquisition -- somehow your front office has to overcome that if they want to maintain a talent advantage over the rest of the NFL. I have total confidence Kyle can spot gems in the rough on offense and this allows the front office to basically devote all the draft capital to defense (Bosa/Kinlaw/Solomon for example) so at least maintain that talent advantage - at least on defense.

This time Lynch and Shanny are drafting players that fit the system after evaluating them together while Baalke used to draft players he wanted regardless the system.

Right now the formula is better because it can give the team a long term success if Shanny and Lynch keep working together.

Now about comparing both teams it sucks that we lost both Super Bowls despite being the better team and we lost them because of our own mistakes. Horrendous 1st half and bad calling by Roman at the end in 2012 while in 2019 it was a combination of bad pass-pro in crunch time (I´m looking at you Person) with a deep pass because Jimmy didn´t wait Sanders 5 more yards to throw the ball.

About the head coaches I think we all know that Shanny is a coach that can stay on the team for the next 10 years and that´s something we can´t say about Harbaugh because his personality got everyone tired very soon.

Originally posted by jersey49er:

From what we can tell Shanahan and Lynch genuinely like each other where as Harbaugh and Baalke didn't, we always heard news about something those years while you never hear a squick now, the reason the team was dismantled is bc Jed chose the wrong guy, fired harbaugh instead of Baalke, Harbaugh deserved what he wanted which was more control.

We wouldn't have been better off with Harbaugh with control. He didn't even know who his best nfl level players at Stanford were.

Should've canned them both in hindsight and gone for the Shanahan combo.

Originally posted by 9ers4eva:

Originally posted by jersey49er:

From what we can tell Shanahan and Lynch genuinely like each other where as Harbaugh and Baalke didn't, we always heard news about something those years while you never hear a squick now, the reason the team was dismantled is bc Jed chose the wrong guy, fired harbaugh instead of Baalke, Harbaugh deserved what he wanted which was more control.

We wouldn't have been better off with Harbaugh with control. He didn't even know who his best nfl level players at Stanford were.

Should've canned them both in hindsight and gone for the Shanahan combo.

Lol you can't blame him for Sherm and Baldwin, no one can predict the future how a players succeeds in the league compared to college, if so there wouldn't be bust and UDFAs who flourished

Originally posted by jersey49er:

Originally posted by 9ers4eva:

Originally posted by jersey49er:
From what we can tell Shanahan and Lynch genuinely like each other where as Harbaugh and Baalke didn't, we always heard news about something those years while you never hear a squick now, the reason the team was dismantled is bc Jed chose the wrong guy, fired harbaugh instead of Baalke, Harbaugh deserved what he wanted which was more control.

We wouldn't have been better off with Harbaugh with control. He didn't even know who his best nfl level players at Stanford were.

Should've canned them both in hindsight and gone for the Shanahan combo.

Lol you can't blame him for Sherm and Baldwin, no one can predict the future how a players succeeds in the league compared to college, if so there wouldn't be bust and UDFAs who flourished

While talent can be a crap shoot, Harbaugh was just to stubborn and couldn't evolve.

We went to the NFCCG 3 times with a SB defense and playbook filled with nothing but goal line plays. We should have won 3 SBs but our offense was handicapped

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:

Originally posted by jersey49er:

Originally posted by 9ers4eva:

Originally posted by jersey49er:

From what we can tell Shanahan and Lynch genuinely like each other where as Harbaugh and Baalke didn't, we always heard news about something those years while you never hear a squick now, the reason the team was dismantled is bc Jed chose the wrong guy, fired harbaugh instead of Baalke, Harbaugh deserved what he wanted which was more control.

We wouldn't have been better off with Harbaugh with control. He didn't even know who his best nfl level players at Stanford were.

Should've canned them both in hindsight and gone for the Shanahan combo.

Lol you can't blame him for Sherm and Baldwin, no one can predict the future how a players succeeds in the league compared to college, if so there wouldn't be bust and UDFAs who flourished

While talent can be a crap shoot, Harbaugh was just to stubborn and couldn't evolve.

We went to the NFCCG 3 times with a SB defense and playbook filled with nothing but goal line plays. We should have won 3 SBs but our offense was handicapped

So f**king frustrating add the fact baalke couldn't draft worth a damn to add impactful younger guys like kyle and John have been doing.