After significant roster turnover last offseason, many questioned whether the San Francisco 49ers' Super Bowl window was closing. While the team retained key cornerstone players, critics worried the loss of depth might be too much to overcome.
That depth was certainly tested in 2025, as injuries impacted the roster. Still, the 49ers finished strong, winning six of their final seven games, making the playoffs, and advancing to the Divisional Round before falling to the Seattle Seahawks.
During Wednesday's end-of-season press conference, head coach Kyle Shanahan acknowledged that media narratives about the Super Bowl window could be distracting—if he paid attention to them.
"If I read more articles and had to debate them after I read an article, I would probably talk that way," Shanahan said. "People talked about that a lot last year, and how many people we lost, and everything like that. I really haven't thought about windows or anything like that anymore. We've got a lot of good players on our team that were a part of teams that got real close to winning the Super Bowl a number of years ago. And, each year, it's going to be a whole different deal.
"I'm proud, to a degree, of what we accomplished this year, but we didn't accomplish what we totally want to accomplish. We're going to try to accomplish that every year. Some years, we're going to have better chances than others, but I struggle when people talk about windows and things like that because you've always got a shot.
"You've always got a shot to get in the playoffs, and you've always got a chance to win a playoff game. It's never the best of seven in a series. Your whole goal is to get to those playoffs regardless of what type of team you think you have, and if you get there, you've always got a shot."
General manager John Lynch also praised the team's resilience and ability to compete each week despite challenges.
"We've got a core group of players that are outstanding players, outstanding workers," Lynch said. "Are some of them aging? Sure. But they're still playing really good football because they take tremendous care of themselves, and they're special people."
Lynch highlighted the mix of veterans and young players, noting that the infusion of youth contributed to the 49ers' late-season success. However, he acknowledged there's still work to be done if San Francisco wants to stay competitive in a tough NFC West.
"We've got to find a way to get better as a team," Lynch said. "... I've never had a group—I've been around the league for a long time—that I'm more proud of for their fight, for their resolve. They didn't blink. I think and know that a large part of that's the leadership Kyle displayed in projecting that, and really, believing that.
"We had a lot of belief in these guys when a lot of people didn't, and all they did was fight. We'll be better for that moving forward, and [when] we get everyone back. It leaves you really excited about what's to come."