The 49ers’ top offensive players believe the character in the locker room will prevent the club from experiencing the typical dip in performance that generally follows the loser of the Super Bowl through the following season.
San Francisco went 13-3 during the regular season to win the NFC West. The 49ers cruised through the NFC playoffs with 17-point victories over the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers, then appeared to be heading for a victory in Super Bowl LIV.
But the 49ers’ offense sputtered and the defense surrendered 21 points in the final seven minutes, as the Kansas City Chiefs rallied to a 31-20 victory.
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“I think it all goes back to the mental side of it,” 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said during the 49ers’ State of the Franchise event on 49ers.com.
“Your team changes from year to year, but not drastically. You’re not going to have 30 new guys that weren’t on the roster before. But if you have the mentality of not being satisfied. ... We got to the Super Bowl. You didn’t win it. Where do you go from here? It’s all mentality.”
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All-Pro tight end George Kittle believes the players who coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch have acquired not only the requisite football skills but also the intangibles to put in the work necessary to get back to where the 49ers ended last season.
“It’s our mindset,” Kittle said. “I think coach Shanahan and John Lynch have brought in incredible people. We have incredible football players, but at the same time, we have really good people in the locker room.
“We have all these positive people in our locker room that we interact with every single day, and it just elevates the level of play on the football field because every single guy trusts every other person. ... I think we can get a lot better and just really excited about that.”
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Keiana Martin of 49ers.com and Greg Papa, the team’s radio play-by-play voice, hosted the discussion over video conference. Martin asked right tackle Mike McGlinchey about bouncing back and avoiding the typical “Super Bowl hangover.”
“It’s not even an option, and it’s not even a possibility because of who we are, what we do, the way that we work and the way things are going to go,” McGlinchey said. “And I think when you look at our roster from top to bottom, there isn’t really a glaring hole at any part. But I know for a fact, on top of the good football player that in each position, it’s an even-harder worker and even-better person that’s going to continue to fight to get better each and every day.
“And I think that’s how you avoid those kinds of situations and teams in the past that have not prepared the same way. Because of the people in our building, that’s not an option.”