Adam Rank received some backlash from the Niner Faithful last year after predicting that the San Francisco 49ers would finish the season with just three wins. Even with all of the question marks surrounding the team, that projection seemed to drastically underestimate the team's chances in 2019. Most felt the team would hover somewhere in the realm of .500.
The 49ers didn't win three games. They didn't play .500 football either. The team finished the season 13-3, won the NFC West, and earned the No. 1 seed in the conference before a playoff run that ended with a trip to the Super Bowl.
Rank was wrong, and all season long, he had to be reminded about that from fans.
The NFL Media analyst isn't underestimating the 49ers this year. Rank has San Francisco finishing 12-4 in 2020, losing only to the Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks, New Orleans Saints, and Dallas Cowboys. The Seattle loss, by the way, is the Week 8 matchup at CenturyLink Field.
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Rank believes the Week 15 matchup between the 49ers and Cowboys could be the game of the year, with the two teams, in his opinion, being evenly matched.
A 12-4 record won't be enough to earn them the No. 1 seed again, says Rank. He has the 49ers as the No. 3 seed in the NFC.
"12-4, 'taking a step back,' but really, I think this team is better," explained Rank. "You think about Jimmy Garoppolo; I know a lot of people wanted to bring in Tom Brady. That was ridiculous. Jimmy Garoppolo is a good quarterback. Raheem Mostert is a good running back. Nick Bosa, obviously, is as good as advertised.
"You might feel disrespected. You might feel that I should say 13-3 or 14-2. You probably wish I would say 3-13 again. But here's the thing: To me, the 49ers are in a very similar situation to what the Chiefs were in last year. The Chiefs, two years ago, No. 1 seed, got knocked off in the AFC Championship Game, then went out and won the Super Bowl. I think it behooves the 49ers to kind of just, 'Alright, don't need to be the No. 1 seed again, and just kind of fly under the radar.'
"People look at the Eagles and some of these other teams that come out, and you have your best season ever. Even though, record-wise, it will be different from last year, I think they'll be much better."
Click here to listen to Rank's entire explanation of how he arrived at his 12-4 prediction.