I love the San Francisco 49ers.
As you read in my bio, my whole family are 49er fans and have been since my dad grew up in Daly City, San Francisco. When my sister was about 5 years old, she would sit with my dad and watch the Niner games asking him all about Cover 1, Cover 2 defensive formations, and when you would run a pass play versus a run play. By the time I came along, it just became a Sunday habit to all watch football together and discuss the games.
To this day, even though we all live in different houses now, we still either get together or call each other to watch the games together. We are a football family. We are a Niner family. So I felt it made sense to dedicate a post to just all things, San Francisco 49ers.
As the 2023 NFL season kicks off tonight on NBC at 8:20pm ET, even though the Niners are not playing until Sunday, I’m so eager for the start of this season. It just means one more opportunity to make a run for that 6th SuperBowl title that has eluded San Francisco for the past few seasons.
The Bosa Deal
There is definitely a lot of chatter around the league focusing on the 49ers. Much of that had to do with Nick Bosa’s 5-year, $170 million contract deal that he and San Francisco’s management settled on September 6, 2023.
Why is this significant? First of all, that’s A LOT of money, even by football standards. Richard Sherman has a great short breakdown of what that means in terms of the value with different players in the league on his latest podcast.
Secondly, for the last two seasons, San Francisco’s defense has been rated in the Top 5 in the NFL. Going into the 2023 season, they are now rated the #1 Defense in the league. Those high ratings have been largely due to the big, fast, aggressive and relentless defensive line… that includes Nick Bosa.
There is a saying, “defense wins games,” and for San Francisco, being able to retain Nick Bosa will set the precedent of what they plan to do this season… win.
Definitively.
That does not mean that if things hadn’t worked out and Bosa got traded, San Francisco’s elite defensive status would be completely ruined. Football is still a team sport, and there are many factors on each level of their defense that makes them #1.
Having Bosa is a definite game changer though. The workload the other players would need to do to make up for his missing presence would be more challenging against teams with a well built offense and elite quarterback. But, thank goodness, Bosa will be present to start against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, September 10 at 1pm ET on Fox.
The Quarterback Situation
Defense wasn’t the only conversation piece the 49ers had around the league. What has been called “The Quarterback Situation” was the dominant talk prior to the Bosa deal coming into preseason.
As it stands Brock Purdy will be the starting quarterback. Sam Darnold secured the 2nd string position after the preseason win against the Denver Broncos. Trey Lance was traded to the Dallas Cowboys the morning of the last preseason game. Jimmy Garoppolo was traded in the off season to the Las Vegas Raiders. And Brandon Allen is sitting at 3rd string.
Hopefully it will not be a repeat of last season where San Francisco had to endure losing all 3 of their quarterbacks and needed a last minute 4th quarterback for playoffs. My heart still hurts still thinking about the end of last season. Too soon.
Thank You Jimmy & Trey
I am sad to lose Jimmy. I can no longer consider him marriage material as he plays for a team that I have never liked growing up. But I will reconsider if he goes to a team I don’t completely hate. And will 100% reconsider if he ever comes back to San Francisco. A girl can dream, right?
I am sad for Trey. For the record I was not a bandwagon for the kid. I believe that you can’t teach experience. Unfortunately, Trey did not have a lot of game time even in college due to the pandemic. And on a professional level, it is so hard to have consistent playing time when you are plagued by major injuries. I wish he could have had more time here, he really would have brought a whole different element to Shanahan’s offense.
As a 49er Faithful fan, it has been a rough offseason with all the changes and scares of not being able to secure players. But now the roster is set, and everyone is where they are supposed to be.
Let’s Go Niners!
I’m both excited and nervous for the game Sunday. I am always one to make a statement with a win. However, it is an away game and the Steelers have a gnarly fan base and their home turf is tough to play in.
Regardless of the outcome on Sunday, I just want the Niners to win the SuperBowl this year. I am finally ready to say “quest for 7” at the end of this season.
Let’s go Niners!