what is the biggest factor for a return trip to nfc championship next year?

To be humble. If this team shows up thinking they will win simply by showing up, it'll be a long season.

Originally posted by RishikeshA:

Health and mistake free football.

This & keep the core players together

Progression of the offense, and continuation of the same play by the defense. It's simple.

Originally posted by redniner49:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
~ Keep the defense together in FA.
~ Stay injury free.
~ Sign top tier WR FA.
~ Draft another RB, pass rusher, WR.
~ Alex progresses in year #2 under Harbaugh with a full offseason and improves some more.
~ Crabtree doesn't disappear in playoffs this time.

***** ALL PR and backup PR's can and will catch the ball when called upon......

agree ,and i think alex will need another tight end to go with davis we need to upgrade walker

Walker is the least of our worries ? Sign our FA , Sign big time or draft WR . then draft CB ,wr, back OG . Work on our 3rd down problems, and endzone .

It's gotta be Alex Smith taking the next step... He has to become the man, the guy, the put the game on my shoulders guy! There are only a few times, and you can count them on 1 hand, that a QB that doesn't have those qualities has guided his team to the Superbowl, and in most of those cases the win was not because of them.. Brad Johnson and Trent Dilfer come to mind. Jeff Hostetler, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien are the few that won because of their great QB play... And no team has won multiple Superbowl's without great QB play....

The most important thing, is the QB is the best player on the field at the most important position in football... Alex has to take that step...

Contract offers will tell us if the 49ers think he can...

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
~ Keep the defense together in FA.
~ Stay injury free.
~ Sign top tier WR FA.
~ Draft another RB, pass rusher, WR.
~ Alex progresses in year #2 under Harbaugh with a full offseason and improves some more.
~ Crabtree doesn't disappear in playoffs this time.

***** ALL PR and backup PR's can and will catch the ball when called upon......

My gut tells me we've seen the best of Alex Smith so I'd love to see someone compete for the starting job.
Top tier WR would be awesome.

injury free
kepping the defense together
AND A MOTHERFN WRS

the biggest factor in a return trip to nfc title game is a win in the divisional round

They need to be better next year than they were this year. They need to be BETTER on D. They need to be MUCH better on O.

They need to put the time in in the offseason.

Why do they need to be better to achieve the same?

Packers. Saints. Patriots. Giants. Lions. All on the schedule next year with at least 2 of those teams looking for revenge. They will be a better team next year and will likely not be able to get the #2 seed.

Big Targets on O - A big TE and/ or WR, if we can get size and speed on WR that would be ideal like a Malcolm Floyd. It doesn't seem though the WR is that good.

Keep the Secondary intact!

Don't forget Ahmad Brooks.

It's not critical but they need another big RB like 230 and up with speed.

Originally posted by niners4lyfe:
no kyle williams.

this

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
~ Keep the defense together in FA.
~ Stay injury free.
~ Sign top tier WR FA.
~ Draft another RB, pass rusher, WR.
~ Alex progresses in year #2 under Harbaugh with a full offseason and improves some more.
~ Crabtree doesn't disappear in playoffs this time.

***** ALL PR and backup PR's can and will catch the ball when called upon......

I agree that all of these things must take place for us to get to the playoffs again. Good draft, good FA, improvement on the Offense, improvement in Alex and the WRs and continued improvement in the defense.

QB and WRs in sync.

Originally posted by Oldschool9erfan:

Big Targets on O - A big TE and/ or WR, if we can get size and speed on WR that would be ideal like a Malcolm Floyd. It doesn't seem though the WR is that good.

Keep the Secondary intact!

Don't forget Ahmad Brooks.

It's not critical but they need another big RB like 230 and up with speed.

Big targets are good, but a more important quality is hands like glue.

Health. Better 3rd down %.