Excited for the future, but longing for the past

I'm looking at this season as perhaps the greatest true chance for the franchise to return to some kind of legitimate respectability in the NFC. Really, that can almost solely be attributed to Mike Singletary. His aura of capability and focus combined with a roster that really should be able to compete with 90%+ of the league (barring injuries) makes me feel positive that "it" will finally come back to the 49ers and they'll actually start making teams fear them week in and week out.

However, this time around it's because of the swagger and talent of the defense that my prediction could actually come true. I think most of us can agree that the play on the defensive side of the ball was what carried this team to an 8-8 record last year and it was simply the offense's graduation from "inept" to "mediocre" that allowed the defense to bring games home down the stretch. As much as I love the play of Willis and his colleagues on that side of the ball, I miss the offensive dominance of the dynasty years.

I went to a game several years ago when Garcia and Mooch were still in town, and even then I heard fans complaining about the vanilla offense that ran between the tackles more than was probably necessary. One older guy in front of me said that over the years we came to expect greatness and flare in this team's offense, we wanted them to do things nobody else could and win by 30 rather than 14.

Spoiled, yes we were, and if only we knew that within a couple of seasons we'd look at the Garcia years with fondness and longing for even his above average output. As we know now, things sank to depths we couldn't even imagine and the team underwent such dramatic changes that the former offensive-artistry we came to believe was our identity became something only found in NFL Films and stories to be told by the fans that lived to see it.

Yes I still love the team, but if I had it my way, they'd be resurrecting themselves through some great offensive revival instead of a defensive approach. I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but it just makes the glory years seem that much farther away and the hope that we'll see something like that again that much more distant as well.

However, looking at the offense now, there are more stars there in Davis, Crabtree, and Gore (probably the best true-runner the team has ever had) than perhaps even in the late 90's - early 2000's after Young's exit. Should the line gel and Alex Smith plays even at Garcia's level, we could have the best of both worlds and really start in on a new dynasty.

You said longing.

Originally posted by okdkid:
You said longing.

Ive heard this before...

Same Old Song and Dance

Originally posted by NinerGM:
?

Just thought of that song when I was reading the above post.

Originally posted by okdkid:
You said longing.

There is nothing remotely the same between this team and those of the glory years.


The league itself isn't remotely the same either.

Originally posted by AXEGRINDER:
There is nothing remotely the same between this team and those of the glory years.


The league itself isn't remotely the same either.

I was referring to:

"Should the line gel and Alex Smith plays even at Garcia's level, we could have the best of both worlds and really start in on a new dynasty"

And you are absolutely right, the team now can't shake a stick at the glory years' teams.