I'm still proud of our team......

Originally posted by smithgdwg:
The problem is that the window for Seattle, Rams, and Cardinals is much larger than ours currently. They have more talented younger talent. Also we are incapable of winning in Seattle, so we have to hope we don't play in Seattle during the playoffs. Also everyone gets injured when we play in Seattle.

The Rams need a QB to really compete in the NFC West and in AZ Carson Palmer is like 100 years old so they will need one soon too.

And we can win in Seattle. Watching that game yesterday should tell you that. There are a bevy of plays to pick from that if just one went differently the 49ers would have won. They can win in Seattle.

after last year. i wasn't excited about anything. i appreciate the steps we made and how far we got but we're past that
we need to win it all.
we were supposed to take a step forward not backwards.
nfccg year 1
sb loss year 2
sb win year 3.
and during the season and playoffs next year my mind will be on one thing.
it's a lifetime away though and i know our roster is still the best in the nfl
and kap will be back and better and actually have an off season with crabtree for the 1st time.

but it still stinks because the season is still going on and we're not participating

Guys, the future remains pretty bright. Yes, Gore and J. Smith are another year older. But with Carradine and Lattimore healthy, I think we have depth at those positions right now, before adding a single draft pick or free agent.

Losing Whitner, Rogers, and Goodwin is not the end of the world. We get Culliver back next year and there are good options at center - assuming Goodwin doesn't take a soft deal.

Our QB has a bright future and although he has flaws, he's young enough and talented enough to bounce back. How many other QBs in this league have started in two NFC championship games in their first two years as a starter?

We will keep getting younger and better.

Sadly this is the truth

When Peyton went to Denver, our shot of being a Dynasty closed
Now I'm starting to doubt we will win multiple titles

For the 2nd straight year, we lost to an inferior opponent because of our own personal mistakes

If Kaepernick doesn't significantly improve, the offense will decline along with our aging defense. There is simply no way we will have the cap flexibility to hold on to this talent. Look at what has happened to New England. Furthermore it is apparent we do not have the coaching of Patriots to off set such a talent decline.

We will be back and will remain for the near future (5+ years) a competitor in the NFC. But assuming we can replace guys like Gore, Justin Smith & Offensive Line is naive. It's going to be difficult to win a championship with an above average Quarterback while the roster around him declines.

Originally posted by Rubberneck36:

Its amazing that people think a window has to close in 3 years. Did they miss the run the patriots, colts, etc. went on? Draft well, some key free agents, sign the right folks have great leadership and coaches and it keeps going.

Amazing it keeps coming up from a fan base who watched 16 straight years of winning 10 games or more.

Niners will be fine.

Go niners!

I think its because of fear of the unknown, but im with you, we are just getting started.

Seattle's window is going to slam shut very quickly, after they have to pay Wilson and their defense goes their separate ways. Maybe they can continue to find gems in later rounds, but their 2013 draft was somehow even worse than our 2012 draft. They have a killer 2014 free agency, and an absolutely devastating 2015 offseason ahead of them. Wilson is going to be Flacco 2.0 pretty soon.

Originally posted by Touchdownboy:
Sadly this is the truth

When Peyton went to Denver, our shot of being a Dynasty closed
Now I'm starting to doubt we will win multiple titles

For the 2nd straight year, we lost to an inferior opponent because of our own personal mistakes

If Kaepernick doesn't significantly improve, the offense will decline along with our aging defense. There is simply no way we will have the cap flexibility to hold on to this talent. Look at what has happened to New England. Furthermore it is apparent we do not have the coaching of Patriots to off set such a talent decline.

We will be back and will remain for the near future (5+ years) a competitor in the NFC. But assuming we can replace guys like Gore, Justin Smith & Offensive Line is naive. It's going to be difficult to win a championship with an above average Quarterback while the roster around him declines.

I beg to differ. I think sometimes we put on blinders on and overvalue our players. Even more so with guys like Gore and Cowboy. I love them just as much as the next man but I would be a lie if I said I never thought of how much more explosive we would be with a guy like Shady McCoy at running back rather than Gore. And with Tomsula as a dline coach I think we will always get the consistent play from the dline, we should need to strengthen our rotation. We have all the key elements we need to stay at the top of the NFC for a while, we just need to develop Kap as a passer and add a few new deminsions to offense and special teams. We have all the draft picks, and talent coming back from injury to do so.

go faithfuls!

Originally posted by facestabber:
It's opened as long as we draft right and resign the right players for the right money. We have a solid core and can mix it with the best teams. It's a shame we have blown 3 golden opportunities to bring home the hardware. Staying hungry after 3 dissapointing 'almost' title runs will be our biggest hurdle. One SB would have satisfied me for a decade.

i think with balke/harbs they have been doing pretty darn good...this is a big deal off season but remeber we do have lattimore and carridine waiting to play

Originally posted by ninerfan4life:
With next year's weak schedule I can easily see us going 13-3 maybe 14-2

would love to get the #1 seed

Originally posted by midrdan:
Guys, the future remains pretty bright. Yes, Gore and J. Smith are another year older. But with Carradine and Lattimore healthy, I think we have depth at those positions right now, before adding a single draft pick or free agent.

Losing Whitner, Rogers, and Goodwin is not the end of the world. We get Culliver back next year and there are good options at center - assuming Goodwin doesn't take a soft deal.

Our QB has a bright future and although he has flaws, he's young enough and talented enough to bounce back. How many other QBs in this league have started in two NFC championship games in their first two years as a starter?

We will keep getting younger and better.

all of kaeps problems can be fixed. he has a very good work ethic and is highly motivated and committed. (they say u cant teach accuracy but i think its good enough)

Originally posted by sspiker:
Seattle's window is going to slam shut very quickly, after they have to pay Wilson and their defense goes their separate ways. Maybe they can continue to find gems in later rounds, but their 2013 draft was somehow even worse than our 2012 draft. They have a killer 2014 free agency, and an absolutely devastating 2015 offseason ahead of them. Wilson is going to be Flacco 2.0 pretty soon.

What I'm about to say may seem like backwards logic but a part of me wants to Seahawks to win the Super Bowl just because I know it would put them in salary cap hell. While I think Kap/Crab/Aldon would all sign favorable deals because of their own personal issues (Not winning big games, Injury, DUI, etc.) and to keep the core of this roster intact. Heck to be honest Seattle is screwed regardless they will have to pay Wilson regardless, Lynch might want more money, Sherman is screaming he is the best DB in the league and will want that type of money. Not to mention they spent big money in the past few years on free agents/trades (Harvin, Avril, etc.). At the end of the day... we gucci

Originally posted by AutographDynasty:
Whether it's opening/closing/whatever, these past few years have ultimately been a waste of prime years for some of our best guys. Anything less than a title during these years has to be seen as a failure in at least some form.

I don't know what it is with the philosophy, but Harbaugh/Roman really held Kap back in the beginning of the year and throughout the season at times. I can't help but think that the conservatism and stubbornness are really hurting his development in some way.

I have been preaching this for months.

Even though he had some turnovers, Kap thoroughly outplayed Wilson yesterday. Kap drives me nuts...with so many 3rd down conversions. He had Crabtree open in the end zone, but underthrew him slightly, game over. Agree, we need some receiving help...speed outside of Vernon is clearly lacking. I love Gore, as just about everyone in this forum does, but methinks Lattimore is the guy now. Marcus can break tackles with surprising power and has plenty of breakaway ability. Granted, Lynch is a beast-freak, but to compete against him you have to come closer to matching his power and "want-to". Lattimore just might be that guy. We clearly missed Bruce Miller...he was so adept at getting Gore the space he needed to make positive yards. Have to hope Iupati fully recovers...a break is sometimes easier to heal than ligaments. My vote to replace Goodwin is Looney...Joe's a beast in his own right, he really hasn't had a chance to show it fully yet. As Joe Montana said, Kap has room to improve...his decision-making, overall awareness of who's around him on the field. No questioning his physical abilities. He's taken us to the SB and the brink of another one, which in the big scheme of things is outstanding. Just needs to fine-tune his game to get over the hump. Really looking forward to Carradine and Dial next year. Also kudos go to Dobbs and Jerod-Edie...they upped their performances to allow Justin & Ray Mac to get the rest they needed. Should be an interesting competition between Ian Williams and Dorsey for starting NT. Great to get Culliver back. He and Brock should be starting CB's. Hope Baalke re-signs Whitner...after a down 2012, he came back like gangbusters. Lots of other significant things to be proud of on our team...and agree, the window's still wide-open.

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by AutographDynasty:
Whether it's opening/closing/whatever, these past few years have ultimately been a waste of prime years for some of our best guys. Anything less than a title during these years has to be seen as a failure in at least some form.

I don't know what it is with the philosophy, but Harbaugh/Roman really held Kap back in the beginning of the year and throughout the season at times. I can't help but think that the conservatism and stubbornness are really hurting his development in some way.

I have been preaching this for months.

This has been my audit. During the middle of the season (granted, KW was a major part of this) it seamed that DB's just rotated to the initial read, sat in the lane of the predicted second read rout and focused the remaining coverage to the third read. It seemed Keap just totally abandoned some of the progressions, knowing that they wouldn't be there. I don't remember seeing this last year but this year it was fairly stark.

Maybe it's Harbaugh wanting to keep things managed, maybe it's Roman favoring execution over creative playcalling. Either way, it's got to change next year. Kaep kinda looked like Steve Young (when he was raw and...... not that great....... Tampa Bay style). We may be looking at the same two to four year maturation process. At the end of the day, this team had a lot of speed in places and a lot of flexibility with player selection on plays to be this constricted. This was not the case earlier in the season, but seems to be the case now.

It's just frustrating to only see defenses surprised when Bruce Miller catches a pass. It seems they get what they expect every snap, only suffering when Keap says f' it and runs.

Two contracts may dictate whether the window is open or not:

Crabtree and Kaepernick.

Crabtree, based on his past, is going to want MORE THAN Dwayne Bowe money ($11MILLION/YR). That represents an $8MILLION/yr increase over his present cap number. Will he settle for less or insist on "getting paid?" If he gets paid, it will mean someone like Iupati will not.

Kaepernick may have just played himself back a year in an extension unless he is willing to settle for a heavily incentive laden deal. His current cap number is $1.6MILLION/yr. He will certainly get a raise but is he worth the $18MILLION some have suggested. I don't think so but that is Tony Romo/Matthew Stafford territory and some will argue he deserves to be there. If Crabtree gets what he wants and Kaepernick pulls another $15MILLION INCREASE off the cap line, there will be a lot of young/cheaper players on the roster.

Gonna be a busy off-season.