Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
49ers Seek to Shake off the Super Bowl Hangover in the Second Half of the Season
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 months ago on
November 1, 2024

49ers are heading into their bye week with a .500 record and are fighting for an opportunity to get back to the postseason. (GV Wire Composite/Paul Marshall)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

SANTA CLARA — As much as the San Francisco 49ers tried to downplay the curse of the Super Bowl loser leading up to this season, the first half of 2024 has looked just like that.

A summer dominated by contract disputes. A string of injuries that put many of last season’s top performers on the sideline. Up-and-down play from a team that dominated several opponents in 2023.

It all adds up to the 49ers (4-4) headed into their bye week with a .500 record and just fighting for an opportunity to get back to the postseason.

San Francisco held on for a 30-24 win over Dallas with a dominant third quarter providing the blueprint for what the Niners need to do in the second half of the season to shake off the Super Bowl hangover and get back to last year’s consistent level of performance.

“I feel we’re capable of doing everything else we set out for,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “I look at where our team is at and where I think our team can be, and I don’t think we’re there yet. I think there are a lot of things we need to improve on. I think we are gradually doing that. But I think we’ve got the guys here capable of doing it. We’ve just got to make sure we become a better team in the second half than we were in the first half.”

Contract Disputes and Injuries Disrupt Team Rhythm

Summer contract disputes that kept stars Trent Williams and Brandon Aiyuk out of training camp and injuries to top players like Aiyuk, Christian McCaffrey, Javon Hargrave and Talanoa Hufanga have made it hard to get into a rhythm.

The Niners blew 10-point leads in the fourth quarter in division losses to the Rams and Arizona and fell flat in games against Kansas City and Minnesota. There have been few dominant performances from a team that won four of its first five games last season by at least three scores.

It’s not an unfamiliar situation for a team coming off a Super Bowl loss.

Whether it’s from the wear and tear from the extra games, the disappointment of falling just short or normal regression, teams that lost the Super Bowl often have struggled for success the following season.

That’s something the Niners know well after slumping to a 6-10 finish during an injury-plagued 2020 season that followed the team’s first Super Bowl loss to Kansas City. They are one of 14 such teams in the past 35 seasons to miss the playoffs.

In all, only three teams have ever won the Super Bowl the year after losing it, with the 2018 New England Patriots the only team to do it in the last 50 seasons. Dallas and Miami did it in back-to-back seasons in 1971-72.

Those Patriots are the only Super Bowl runner-up to even make it back to the title game the following season since Buffalo lost four straight trips in the 1990-93 seasons.

Signs of Hope for Second-Half Resurgence

The Niners hope they can follow that success, and there are signs from the sluggish first half of the season that do provide hope. San Francisco has been a much stronger team in the second half the last two seasons, going 16-2 after its bye to fuel deep playoff runs.

Big contributions from the rookie class led by standout right guard Dominick Puni and inspirational receiver Ricky Pearsall, who provided a big lift when he returned to the field after being shot in the chest the week before the opener, have helped improve the team’s depth.

The anticipated returns of injured players like McCaffrey and linebacker Dre Greenlaw could take some of the load off stars like Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, Brock Purdy, George Kittle and Trent Williams, and get San Francisco back to the level the team was at the last few seasons.

“We have everything ahead of us,” Warner said. “We can be whoever we want. We have everybody that we need. In terms of players obviously we are banged up. We will get healthy after the week, hopefully get some guys back. It’s about just getting better at this point. We can’t keep getting up for a game and then dropping one and then, ‘Oh, let’s try and figure out a way to win another one.’ Let’s just get better.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Myles Turner Hits Late 3-Pointer, Scores 23 as Pacers Beat Warriors

DON'T MISS

What Is Israel’s US Funded Plan for the Middle East?

DON'T MISS

Caitlin Clark Honored as AP Female Athlete of the Year

DON'T MISS

Rams Don’t Dominate, but They’re Mastered Winning Ugly

DON'T MISS

What Goes on at Fresno County School Board Meetings? It’s Hard to Tell

DON'T MISS

Elaborate Holiday Light Displays Are Making Spirits Bright in a Big Way

DON'T MISS

Bethlehem Marks a Second Subdued Christmas During the War in Gaza

DON'T MISS

The Fastest Spacecraft Ever Heads for Its Close-Up With the Sun

DON'T MISS

Survey: Small Businesses Are Feeling More Optimistic About the Economy After the Election

DON'T MISS

Heavy Travel Day off to a Rough Start After American Airlines Briefly Grounds All Flights

UP NEXT

What Is Israel’s US Funded Plan for the Middle East?

UP NEXT

Caitlin Clark Honored as AP Female Athlete of the Year

UP NEXT

Rams Don’t Dominate, but They’re Mastered Winning Ugly

UP NEXT

What Goes on at Fresno County School Board Meetings? It’s Hard to Tell

UP NEXT

Elaborate Holiday Light Displays Are Making Spirits Bright in a Big Way

UP NEXT

Bethlehem Marks a Second Subdued Christmas During the War in Gaza

UP NEXT

The Fastest Spacecraft Ever Heads for Its Close-Up With the Sun

UP NEXT

Survey: Small Businesses Are Feeling More Optimistic About the Economy After the Election

UP NEXT

Heavy Travel Day off to a Rough Start After American Airlines Briefly Grounds All Flights

UP NEXT

Global Monitor Says Famine Is Weeks Away in North Gaza. A US Diplomat Calls Warning ‘Irresponsible’

Rams Don’t Dominate, but They’re Mastered Winning Ugly

51 minutes ago

What Goes on at Fresno County School Board Meetings? It’s Hard to Tell

1 hour ago

Elaborate Holiday Light Displays Are Making Spirits Bright in a Big Way

1 hour ago

Bethlehem Marks a Second Subdued Christmas During the War in Gaza

2 hours ago

The Fastest Spacecraft Ever Heads for Its Close-Up With the Sun

2 hours ago

Survey: Small Businesses Are Feeling More Optimistic About the Economy After the Election

2 hours ago

Heavy Travel Day off to a Rough Start After American Airlines Briefly Grounds All Flights

2 hours ago

Global Monitor Says Famine Is Weeks Away in North Gaza. A US Diplomat Calls Warning ‘Irresponsible’

2 hours ago

California Residents on Edge as High Surf and Flooding Threats Persist on Christmas Eve

2 hours ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Holds Near Breakeven Ahead of Christmas

2 hours ago

Myles Turner Hits Late 3-Pointer, Scores 23 as Pacers Beat Warriors

SAN FRANCISCO — Myles Turner made a 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 16 seconds left and had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Pascal Siakam ...

6 minutes ago

6 minutes ago

Myles Turner Hits Late 3-Pointer, Scores 23 as Pacers Beat Warriors

Economist Jeffrey Sachs warns of potential US-Iran war in an interview with Tucker Carlson (pictured), citing decades of Israeli-influenced foreign policy in the Middle East. (Shutterstock)
13 minutes ago

What Is Israel’s US Funded Plan for the Middle East?

46 minutes ago

Caitlin Clark Honored as AP Female Athlete of the Year

Rams
51 minutes ago

Rams Don’t Dominate, but They’re Mastered Winning Ugly

1 hour ago

What Goes on at Fresno County School Board Meetings? It’s Hard to Tell

1 hour ago

Elaborate Holiday Light Displays Are Making Spirits Bright in a Big Way

2 hours ago

Bethlehem Marks a Second Subdued Christmas During the War in Gaza

An undated photo provided by NASA/Naval Research Laboratory/Parker Solar Probe shows an unprocessed image from the WISPR instrument of the comet NEOWISE on July 5, 2020, shortly after its closest approach to the sun. (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Naval Research Lab/Parker Solar Probe/Brendan Gallagher via The New York Times)
2 hours ago

The Fastest Spacecraft Ever Heads for Its Close-Up With the Sun

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend