San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan must understand that there is pressure for him to lead the organization to its sixth Super Bowl title.
Not in 2025. Not in 2026. This season. This team is built to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. It has been for the past three seasons and four of the past five. That is not lost on Shanahan as San Francisco prepares for Saturday night’s home game against the Green Bay Packers in the NFL Divisional Playoffs.
Postseason failures for the 49ers under Shanahan will be a major talking point heading into this one. Being the No. 1 seed doesn’t matter. It’s all about performance on the field once kickoff happens inside Levi’s Stadium Saturday night. Shanahan knows this, too.
“I just keep telling our guys no matter what, we clinched the one seed, it feels like a hundred days ago. You’ve got all this time and everyone wants to talk about all this stuff that leads up to it. There’s a lot of stuff to think about, but it comes down to what you do in three and a half hours.”
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan to reporters this week
Last season saw San Francisco ride a 12-game winning streak into the NFC Championship Game. Largely due to the early injury then-rookie Brock Purdy suffered, the team lost by the score of 31-7.
Back in January of 2022, San Francisco held a 10-point fourth quarter lead over the division-rival Los Angeles Rams in the conference title game. Los Angeles would score 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to earn the trip to the Super Bowl.
Speaking of the big game, these 49ers were also up 10 points against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV before being outscored 21-0 in the fourth quarter.
These playoff failures have to be on the mind of Shanahan and the 49ers as they head into Saturday’s game as huge 9.5-point favorites against a young Packers team.
Related: NFL Playoff and Super Bowl predictions
San Francisco 49ers as Dallas Cowboys-lite heading into divisional round
A lot has been made of the Cowboys’ postseason failures after their blowout loss to these very same Packers in the NFC Wild Card round.
Dallas has not made it as far as the NFC Championship Game since January of 1996. It’s been an open joke. Heck, Shanahan trolled the Cowboys without meaning to in talking to media earlier this week.
But in reality, the 49ers have no room to talk. They have not hoisted the Lombardi Trophy since January of 1995.
To put this into perspective, Brock Purdy was three years old when San Francisco defeated the then-San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX. Heck, Shanahan himself was just 15 years old.
Since then, it’s been all about coming up small when it counts the most in the postseason for these 49ers. In addition to that aforementioned loss to Kansas City, the 49ers also fell to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII following the 2012 season.
This isn’t to give 49ers fans flashbacks or nightmares. Rather, it’s stating the obvious. For an organization that has one of the most recognizable brands in the NFL, continued playoff failure can’t be in the cards.
Related: San Francisco 49ers standing in Sportsnaut’s NFL power rankings
The Green Bay Packers are young and dumb
This is not a knock on the Packers. Instead, it’s all about their young team simply not knowing any better. They are not going to shrink in the moment. They are not among the wealth of former Packers players who have shared in utter failure against these 49ers in the NFL Playoffs. This is not Aaron Rodgers (0-4 in his playoff career against the 49ers).
This is Jordan Love’s team. Sure, he was on the sideline when San Francisco defeated Green Bay in the playoffs two seasons ago. But he did not partake in that game. Love knows no better. He doesn’t have these failures in the back of his head as the NFL Divisional Playoffs kickoff.
Just look at Green Bay’s starting offense and their ages. There is not a single member of this unit that has experience similar to that of the 49ers.
- Jordan Love, quarterback (25)
- Aaron Jones, running back (29)
- Christian Watson, wide receiver (24)
- Romeo Doubs, wide receiver (23)
- Luke Musgrave, tight end (23)
- Rasheed Walker, left tackle (23)
- Elgton Jenkings, guard (28)
- Josh Myers, center (25)
- Jon Runyan, guard (26)
- Zach Tom, right tackle (24)
When a 29-year-old and a 28-year-old are your two hardened veterans, you know that experience is not going to be in your favor. The Packers will take to this narrative and play loose in Santa Clara.
As for Love, he’s playing absolutely tremendous football right now. The former first-round pick from Utah State put up 36 total touchdowns against 11 interceptions during the regular season. He then deconstructed a previously dominant Cowboys defense to the tune of 16-of-21 passing for 272 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions in last week’s blowout win over Dallas in Big D.
“He’s come a long way because he’s playing at such a high level. To get thrown in there early this year and have to go through some ups and downs, which he did some good things earlier in this year too. To not win all those games, when you’re with a tough record in your first year, the pressure that comes with that, and just to watch him each game, he’s been consistent. For him to take care of the ball the way he has done has been unbelievable.”
Kyle Shanahan on Jordan Love
Related: Early storylines for Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers are built to win right now
The 49ers’ Super Bowl window is not closing any time soon. Having a quarterback in Brock Purdy playing under his rookie contract will keep said window open for some time.
In no way does this mean that the current iteration of these 49ers are not in the best position to hoist the Lombardi since that 1995 team.
A total of seven 49ers players made All-Pro teams this season. Their entire starting backfield was named starters in the Pro Bowl. An argument can be made that San Francisco boasts top-five players at their respective positions in that of quarterback Brock Purdy, running back Christian McCaffrey, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, tight end George Kittle, fullback Kyle Juszczyk, left tackle Trent Williams, EDGE Nick Bosa, linebacker Fred Warner and cornerback Charvarius Ward.
This is not to drool over the 49ers’ talent level. That’s already well-known. How else could we explain away San Francisco finishing third in both points scored and points allowed while winning their 12 regular-season games by an average of 18.4 points per?
As we’ve seen with other teams around the NFL, things can quickly take a turn. Sure, San Francisco is the most-talented team remaining in the conference and odds-on betting favorites to hoist the Lombardi in Las Vegas next month.
But we can’t simply assume that this team is going to be in the same position next season and moving forward. Trent Williams (35), Kyle Juszczyk (32), George Kittle (30), Arik Armstead (30) and Javon Hargrave (30) are not getting any younger. San Francisco is currently slated to be just $1.34 million under the 2024 NFL salary cap.
Again, things can change.
The time is now for these San Francisco 49ers to grab the bull by its horns and prove that the playoff failures in Northern California are a thing of the past.
The pressure is on. Will they be up to the task?
We’ll find out soon enough.