2013 San Francisco 49ers Season Preview
By Loot, NFL Handicapper, Lootmeister.com
The 49ers have spent the past few seasons growing into a legitimate contender under the stewardship of head coach Jim Harbaugh. It very nearly culminated in a Super Bowl victory, but the Niners came up just short, with Jim losing out to brother John in a memorable big game. Entering the 2013 season, the 49ers are among the favorites to win the whole thing this year. In fact, some books have them as the top favorite in the league.
First of all, they very nearly won the Bowl last season. A play here or there and San Francisco would be looking at defending the title this year. A major part of the optimism for this year is the idea that having come so close, they will be as hungry as ever to take that small extra step forward this year in an effort to win it all. Fair enough.
Adding to the optimism are a slew of offseason moves. There were some key losses, but all told, the thought is that their roster got a little boost this season. Key among the additions are WR Anquan Boldin, who was a key part of why Baltimore took down last season’s Lombardi Trophy. It’s not hard to imagine the clutch play of Boldin giving this offense a boost, especially in the postseason.
There are a few key losses. Losing a top guy in the secondary in Dashon Goldson is not great. Also gone is Randy Moss. While not the force of old, he added a nice wrinkle in the San Francisco passing corps. Add to that the fact that WR Michael Crabtree will be a question mark entering the season recovering from a torn Achilles and there is cause for some concern.
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It’s difficult to think of a time when a team was a Super Bowl favorite in the preseason with a quarterback with 7 regular season starts under his belt. But Colin Kaepernick really exploded onto the scene last season in a way where that level of optimism might not be so misplaced. A big and strapping field general with a propensity to throw defenses off with his ability to run, it remains to be seen if Kaepernick can duplicate the success of 2012. At the same time, what reason would there be to doubt him? Now fully-entrenched as the starting QB, one should expect more big things from the budding star.
Still, it would be nice to see Kaepernick develop some of the finer points associated with top NFL quarterbacks. His arm and legs are elite, as is his athleticism. To win it all, however, he may need to develop into more of an efficient game manager, as it pertains to some of his choices, in addition to his handling of the clock. A few miscues in last year’s Super Bowl just may have ended up costing the Niners the game. Still, it’s hard to be too critical of such an inexperienced quarterback. For a guy with such little big-game seasoning, Kaepernick did great.
A lot of their success is riding on young and old alike. Boldin will be 33 in October, not an age when wide receivers get better. Frank Gore, deadly when his legs are fresh, is now on the wrong side of 30 and has weakened late in the season in the past few years. Old kicker David Akers is out and the 38-year old Phil Dawson takes over. In addition, rookie Eric Reid, a rookie out of LSU, will be asked to do a lot in his first season. Joining Reid in the secondary will be Nnamdi Asomugha, a one-time hot commodity at cornerback who is coming off a couple rough seasons in Philly. The Frisco “D” should be more to his liking, so we’ll see how he pans out.
San Francisco enters 2013 with the expectations higher (6/1 to win the Super Bowl) that they’ve been since the heyday of Steve Young. Even so, a lot would have to go wrong for them not to be in the thick of the NFC title race. Kaepernick would have to be exposed as a one-hit wonder and their acquisitions would all have to fall flat. In addition, San Francisco should be in perhaps the NFL’s toughest division, with Seattle, St, Louis, and even Arizona looking good. The guess here is that the 49ers’ resurgence is legit and not flukey. Barring anything crazy, San Francisco should be an elite team this season and be right in the thick of things to the end.
