ESPN's Bill Barnwell recently ranked this season's San Francisco 49ers as the second-most unlikely Super Bowl team of all-time — a list of the most surprising squads to earn a trip to sports' biggest stage.
ESPN insider Field Yates believes a win in Super Bowl LIV would push the 49ers into the No. 1 spot as the most surprising NFL champion of all time, and it's not only because the team managed just four wins a season ago.
"They win the Super Bowl, greatest ever," Yates responded on NFL Live when asked where this 49ers squad ranks among the teams with great one-year turnarounds. "And I know the question is one-year turnaround, and last year, they were 4-12 — they picked two in the draft — but do you know what they did the three years prior to last year's 4-12? They lost 10-or-more games.
"First team ever to go from four straight 10-or-more-loss seasons to the Super Bowl. They have an opportunity to finish the job. If they do so, I think it's the greatest turnaround in the history of the NFL from one season to the next."
You can watch the entire segment below. Yates discussing the 49ers begins at about the 1:40 mark.