We're not finished yet.

Great post!!

I'm extremely proud of this team and what they have accomplished the last two seasons, more than teams like the Cards and Seahawks have their entire existence. We'll be back in the thick of it again next season, Coach will work like a madman to ensure that we do. I don't care if we're 13-3, 11-4-1, 6-10 or back to 2-14, this is the team...always has been and always will be.

Originally posted by sfninerfanMax:
I see a very bright future for the Niners with one BIG caveat. Seattle.

I think the Niners and Seattle will be battling for NFC supremacy for the next few years--not just NFC west supremacy.

1. It could come down to who ends up as the better QB Kaep or Wilson
2. Seattle has a huge home field advantage with that noise and crowd--and playing an NFC Title game in Seattle is something you want to avoid.
3. If Seattle becomes a good road team winning the NFC west becomes difficult for the Niners--so that is the BIG caveat.
4. The Niners have to win the division despite Seattle's huge home field advantage for 8 games--and that will be hard to do.

This draft is so important coming up--14 picks--all the off season moves --we need a solid offseason.

There are a lot of "ifs" with that Seattle team. If, if, if. Point being, we beat them for the division crown. We've now beaten them out two years in a row. I see this trend continuing.

The only thing that really surprised me was our defense and how it fell off the face of the Earth after Justin got hurt. Or, how the secondary was burned repeatedly through the season. They need help in this area.

Draft well, Trent Baalke. Draft well.

YES WE ARE FINISHED! UNLESS THERE'S ANOTHER SUPERBOWL NEXT WEEK THAT I'M NOT AWARE OF.

I'm definitely with Fro fo sho' on this!

Look, after last year, half of you guys were saying that our window was closed--and then we made it to the Super Bowl. If anything our window just got bigger. We have more draft picks than anyone else. We are in a decent cap situation. The players are undeniably hungry.

And oh yea, we have something else: A STAR QB! Jesus, I feel like so many of you are forgetting this. Kap + full offseason + new talent and depth from the draft = potential for something that we haven't seen since the 80's. The future is bright indeed, and I'm so so proud of this team and this season.

49ers all day, everyday! Get some rest guys!

Originally posted by LoneWolf:
POTY^^^^^^^^

This. Great post and it's the truth.

Truth be told I'm already over it. Last year's Giants game stung more and, weirdly enough, all the heartbreaking regular season losses during the dark ages (03-10) hurt more than this loss did. Because with those losses, you were fed up with losing and fed up with a franchise that seemingly would never return to glory.

Now we have. And although coming just short of Super Bowl titles in back-to-back seasons stings, it will NEVER sting as much as the days of when our Niners were a laughing stock of complete ineptitude.

This is only the beginning...

Originally posted by NinerPrideinNJ:

Originally posted by LoneWolf:
POTY^^^^^^^^

This. Great post and it's the truth.

Truth be told I'm already over it. Last year's Giants game stung more and, weirdly enough, all the heartbreaking regular season losses during the dark ages (03-10) hurt more than this loss did. Because with those losses, you were fed up with losing and fed up with a franchise that seemingly would never return to glory.

Now we have. And although coming just short of Super Bowl titles in back-to-back seasons stings, it will NEVER sting as much as the days of when our Niners were a laughing stock of complete ineptitude.

This is only the beginning...

Hell f**king yes! THIS!!!

Our defense was exposed down the stretch and into the playoffs/SB. When Justin Smith got hurt, things changed...a lot. He played with pain but was literally playing with one good arm. Our pass rush ground virtually to a halt, in part because JS was hurt, but also because his line mates didn't step up to pick up the slack his injury created. That said, I think some changes will come...first, Sopoaga's a FA and I'm not at all convinced he'll be back. His and RayMac's play fell off considerably this season...and my solution would be to bring in some FA help as a quick fix. The guy I'd target is Randy Starks...a big, strong DL who can play inside or out. I'd also strongly consider signing Terrance Knighton or Alan Branch to shore up the middle. Baalke then needs to use some of his at least 14 draft picks to trade up and get a couple of blue-chip DL's. As for the secondary, it was truly exposed. None of them distinguished themselves down the stretch or in the playoffs/SB. Again, I'd bring in some help...instead of meeting Goldson's salary expectations, I'd strongly consider signing FS Jarius Byrd, a very good playmaker who could arguably be signed for less than Goldson. I'd also consider signing either William Moore or Glover Quin...Whitner was absolutely awful most of the season and especially when it counted most in the playoffs. Then there's CB...Rogers, Brown and Culliver had way too many bad moments out there. Sign Sean Smith, a big CB who's skillset and size make for a better match-up with the big WR's we face just about every week. I'd also strongly consider Perrish Cox as the nickel. Trading Alex, letting Sopoaga, Goldson and other go would create the cap space to sign the new guys. Baalke needs to draft the best CB and S he can find. To give Kap some more weapons, Baalke should draft Zach Ertz, the best TE in the country. What a RZ target he could be! Kap could also use a big WR...someone like Malcom Floyd, for example. There's not a lot the offense needs now, which is why I'm thinking the biggest priority is to retool the defense. If the defense can get back to where it was in 2011 with the offense we have now, we'll win a Super Bowl next year.

Originally posted by CorvaNinerFan:
Our defense was exposed down the stretch and into the playoffs/SB. When Justin Smith got hurt, things changed...a lot. He played with pain but was literally playing with one good arm. Our pass rush ground virtually to a halt, in part because JS was hurt, but also because his line mates didn't step up to pick up the slack his injury created. That said, I think some changes will come...first, Sopoaga's a FA and I'm not at all convinced he'll be back. His and RayMac's play fell off considerably this season...and my solution would be to bring in some FA help as a quick fix. The guy I'd target is Randy Starks...a big, strong DL who can play inside or out. I'd also strongly consider signing Terrance Knighton or Alan Branch to shore up the middle. Baalke then needs to use some of his at least 14 draft picks to trade up and get a couple of blue-chip DL's. As for the secondary, it was truly exposed. None of them distinguished themselves down the stretch or in the playoffs/SB. Again, I'd bring in some help...instead of meeting Goldson's salary expectations, I'd strongly consider signing FS Jarius Byrd, a very good playmaker who could arguably be signed for less than Goldson. I'd also consider signing either William Moore or Glover Quin...Whitner was absolutely awful most of the season and especially when it counted most in the playoffs. Then there's CB...Rogers, Brown and Culliver had way too many bad moments out there. Sign Sean Smith, a big CB who's skillset and size make for a better match-up with the big WR's we face just about every week. I'd also strongly consider Perrish Cox as the nickel. Trading Alex, letting Sopoaga, Goldson and other go would create the cap space to sign the new guys. Baalke needs to draft the best CB and S he can find. To give Kap some more weapons, Baalke should draft Zach Ertz, the best TE in the country. What a RZ target he could be! Kap could also use a big WR...someone like Malcom Floyd, for example. There's not a lot the offense needs now, which is why I'm thinking the biggest priority is to retool the defense. If the defense can get back to where it was in 2011 with the offense we have now, we'll win a Super Bowl next year.

I think RJF would be a fine nose tackle. I didn't like him on the end but I could definitely see him being a successor to Sopoaga.

Originally posted by sfninerfanMax:

I see a very bright future for the Niners with one BIG caveat. Seattle.

I think the Niners and Seattle will be battling for NFC supremacy for the next few years--not just NFC west supremacy.

1. It could come down to who ends up as the better QB Kaep or Wilson
2. Seattle has a huge home field advantage with that noise and crowd--and playing an NFC Title game in Seattle is something you want to avoid.
3. If Seattle becomes a good road team winning the NFC west becomes difficult for the Niners--so that is the BIG caveat.
4. The Niners have to win the division despite Seattle's huge home field advantage for 8 games--and that will be hard to do.

This draft is so important coming up--14 picks--all the off season moves --we need a solid offseason.

1. Kaep will be better
2. Very true, it sucks to play at Seattle
3.True, I don't think they will though
4.We will be fine Kaep has a whole offseason to prepare as the starter instead of being thrown in and having the whole qb controversy thing in the middle of the season

Absolutely correct this draft/offseason will decide if we become a dynasty or just a good team that makes it to the playoffs every year and fizzles out.

Originally posted by Ninerbowl6:
Uh....the ravens have it better than us because they won. God I'm soooo f**king sad...all this BS about being back is hog wash. The NFC is the toughest conference...it's going to be a while before we get back to the bowl. I think Pete wins one before Jim & it's not even close....FML!!!!!!!!!

Seattle, for what it's worth, will have to deal with the same things the Niners did this year...

• they will have a harder schedule
• will no sneak-up on anyone
• The Sports Label could have a sophomoric slump
• they have no depth at the QB position that I fear
• they as a team, have holes to fill just as every other team in the division does

And, not to compare our team to another, didn't a team go to 4 consecutive SB's.
True they never won any, anything can happen. History, does not always repeat itself
as the old saying goes ... sometimes, it's just the opposite.

Originally posted by SealTeam6:
I think Aldon was gassed by the end of the year. Had more than double the snaps as his rookie year. He will be better and stronger next

And, they were masking an injury which affected him more than the team let be known.
Did you see how they had his shoulder taped. When I saw that after the New England game,
I became very concerned. I'm really surprised he made it as far as he did ... especially
after Cowboy went down.

I seem to remember hearing many people on this forum making statements about how it will be so difficult to get to the Championship again, let alone the Super Bowl, after our loss to the Giants and look how this year turned out.

With an excellent offseason to build depth and replacements at a couple of key positions, I see no problem getting to the playoffs again. Coaching staff also needs to get it together in preparations for gameday. Especially with the horrible first halfs we've been having during the latter part of the season and playoffs. In Harbaugh we trust though right? Any Given Sunday, Any Year for the 49ers for the next few years!

Defense is old. Kaep is going to get hit running ala RG3 and die in two years. We won't even be the San Francisco 49ers, we're the Santa Clara 49ers now. Nothing good will happen for us. Prepare to be the same old Niners again. Sans the 80's of course. When we weren't really the Niners.

Originally posted by SmoochingMyBiceps:

Defense is old. Kaep is going to get hit running ala RG3 and die in two years. We won't even be the San Francisco 49ers, we're the Santa Clara 49ers now. Nothing good will happen for us. Prepare to be the same old Niners again. Sans the 80's of course. When we weren't really the Niners.

I hope you are joking...

Originally posted by NinerPrideinNJ:

This. Great post and it's the truth.

Truth be told I'm already over it. Last year's Giants game stung more and, weirdly enough, all the heartbreaking regular season losses during the dark ages (03-10) hurt more than this loss did. Because with those losses, you were fed up with losing and fed up with a franchise that seemingly would never return to glory.

Now we have. And although coming just short of Super Bowl titles in back-to-back seasons stings, it will NEVER sting as much as the days of when our Niners were a laughing stock of complete ineptitude.

This is only the beginning...

Originally posted by Byisgod:

I'm definitely with Fro fo sho' on this!

Look, after last year, half of you guys were saying that our window was closed--and then we made it to the Super Bowl. If anything our window just got bigger. We have more draft picks than anyone else. We are in a decent cap situation. The players are undeniably hungry.

And oh yea, we have something else: A STAR QB! Jesus, I feel like so many of you are forgetting this. Kap + full offseason + new talent and depth from the draft = potential for something that we haven't seen since the 80's. The future is bright indeed, and I'm so so proud of this team and this season.

49ers all day, everyday! Get some rest guys!

All day let's go niners!!!