Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
That's certainly how the last few NFL seasons have felt for the 49ers, who have come so close to Super Bowl glory only to falter in the final stages.
And with San Francisco's 2023 season opener set to kick off Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, NBC Sports' Peter King believes the 49ers' upcoming campaign will end in similar agony.
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King predicted in his weekly "Football Morning in America" column that the 49ers will finish the regular season as the NFC's No. 1 seed, with a 13-4 record. It would be the 10th time in franchise history San Francisco secured the top seed, after coming in at No. 2 last season behind the Philadelphia Eagles.
"Adversity’s Team," King said of the 49ers. "This just in: The Niners are still very good at football. (Proviso: They have to sign Nick Bosa in the next few days.)"
King certainly is right about San Francisco needing to sign Bosa to an expected lucrative contract extension. But the Faithful might take issue with the rest of King's prediction.
After the 49ers, King's NFC seeding order is as follows: Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers. The last time the 49ers were the NFC's No. 1 seed, they reached Super Bowl LIV and fell to the Kansas City Chiefs.
San Francisco 49ers
But this time, King doesn't foresee San Francisco reaching the big game despite holding the conference's top playoff spot. After a first-round bye during Super Wild Card Weekend, King believes the 49ers will lose to the No. 5-seeded Cowboys in the divisional round.
Ouch.
San Francisco knocked its longtime rivals out of the playoffs last season in a chaotic wild-card game, with then-rookie Brock Purdy helping secure a close 23-17 victory over Dallas. A divisional-round exit for the 49ers as the top seed this season would sting, especially against the Cowboys -- and even more so now that Trey Lance is on their roster.
But San Francisco enters 2023 with its eye on the prize and urgency at an all-time high, now that the team appears to have found its long-term answer at quarterback in Purdy. The 23-year-old is surrounded by a star-studded cast hungry for the franchise's sixth Super Bowl and eager to take advantage of their status as contenders.
We're less than a week away from the start of that mission, and the Faithful certainly hope this is the year for the 49ers -- no matter what the predictions say.