Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
49ers missing from this 2022 season playoff prediction
May 11, 2022 at 8:16 AM
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The San Francisco 49ers should be pretty good in 2022, right? Yes, they are entering the upcoming season with a second-year starting quarterback who played just 178 snaps last season, and the interior of the offensive line is uncertain, but the rest of the core remains.
San Francisco has been a playoff participant in two of the last three seasons, with an injury-plagued 2020 campaign being the exception. There is still star power with names like
George Kittle,
Trent Williams,
Nick Bosa,
Fred Warner, and, hopefully,
Deebo Samuel.
Winning the NFC West over the favored defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams may be an uphill battle, but surely they will participate in postseason play, right?
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports doesn't believe so. He
predicted the 14 teams to make the playoffs following the 2022 regular season, and the 49ers are noticeably absent. And it sounds like his reasoning has everything to do with Lance.
"If the 49ers rode Jimmy G, I'd go their way," explained La Canfora, "but it's Lance time and I have trepidation about that learning curve in what amounts to Year One."
Instead, La Canfora has the Rams and Arizona Cardinals emerging as playoff teams out of the NFC West, admitting that it was a coin flip for him between the Cardinals, 49ers, and Dallas Cowboys when it comes to a Wild Card spot.
La Canfora adds, "Arizona is probably good enough for 9 wins so I'll lean in that direction."
That likely means the longtime NFL reporter doesn't envision Kyle Shanahan's squad earning at least that many wins with Lance at the helm of the offense, despite the team coming off an NFC title appearance.
What are your thoughts on this prediction? Leave a comment below.
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