49ers will be best in NFC again this season

Hard to argue against the 49'ers...

Not a huge fan of Garrapalo though. 

They are good, Lynch and Shanahan have done a great job.

They should, but you could say that about every recent Super Bowl loser that regressed the following season. Very strange trend.

@"FSUVike" said: They should, but you could say that about every recent Super Bowl loser that regressed the following season. Very strange trend.

you beat me to it,  history is littered with paper champions from the preseason that struggle unexpectedly and never lived up to potential. 

@"purplefaithful" said: Hard to argue against the 49'ers...

Not a huge fan of Garrapalo though. 

Yeah, not many are talking up Jimmy G like he's the second coming of Montana anymore.  "Joe Cool" he is not.

@"FSUVike" said: They should, but you could say that about every recent Super Bowl loser that regressed the following season. Very strange trend.

Don't get that feel at all from San Fran, but I hear what you are saying. The team is good in places that make a regression unlikely IMO. 

SF is stacked and loaded no doubt,

 There's now a year of tape on SF.    I wanna see if opposing Coordinators find chinks in the armor.

The NFL is hard to be consistently great.  There’s just too many things that can go
wrong.  To get to the SB, you probably
have to have an elite QB or you have to have a great roster that probably didn’t
experience too many injuries.  It’s hard
to be lucky on the injury front multiple years in a row.

 

Beyond injuries:

Guys get a big head, don’t think they have to try as hard.

The coaches schemes get figured out and they lose that
advantage they had.

You lose a key guy or two in FA and their replacement just
isn’t as good.

Guys get old and lose a half step which changes everything.

 

If you don’t have an elite QB, the safe bet is on regression
from a SB level to something lower.  The
NFL is just too hard.

I think the 49ers are a great team, and have a great
coach.  I think they’ll be a team that is
perennially good.

Replacing Staley with Williams was a big and timely win. Tons of D talent. Spicoli in year 2 will be frightening.

@"BarrNone55" said:  Spicoli in year 2 will be frightening.

If they play the games on paper... and there aren't any injuries... they are a lock to be one of the top teams.  But...

Agreed on everything said. They aren't just the favorite, they are the clear favorite. Arguably the best Coach and GM combination in the league right now. They will be on a mission to not let that Superbowl ring slip through their fingers like last year. Teams need to figure out how to stop their cutback zone running scheme, especially the Vikings. Force Jimmy to beat you through the air. He is not that good. 

I agree. And they only made 4 draft picks! They'll feel that in their depth but if they can stay healthy... top NFC team for sure.

Traded Buckner, drafted Kinlaw.Lost Staley, acquired Williams.Lost Sanders, drafted Aiyuk.

This is what re-tooling looks like.
What the Vikings are doing is rebuilding. There is a (big) difference.
EDIT- I will say that while I hope hope HOPE it doesn't happen, that if the season is cancelled then the Vikings approach of going younger and drafting tons of guys is going to look very smart in the longrun. I get the sense the Vikings were one of the better equipped front offices to deal with the online draft, judging by Rick's ability to make deals whereas a lot of other GMs stayed put. So that may give us an edge moving forward. So I commend them on that!

@"1VikesFan" said: They are good, Lynch and Shanahan have done a great job.

Lynch has turned that around in a hurry. Great draft and great score getting Williams after his value dropped. A model org right now

They have vulnerabilities. Like us, they're still weak at guard. Also like us they didn't draft one. Remember Tom Compton? He's their starting RG. And I think everyone's waiting for reality to crash in on Laken Tomlinson on the left. They're built just like we are. Invest at tackle and center, go cheap at guard. WCO line construction 101 I guess.

Also, as good as Kinlaw is, he's still a rookie and no Deforest Buckner. And with Day and Buckner gone, they're now forced to start Solomon Thomas, one of the biggest busts in draft history. Also, they're still weak at corner. Sherman is 32 now and the other corners are league average. That could crumble a bit.

What scares me most about them is them is RAC nightmares Deebo and Aiyuk in that WCO.

And Hurd, if he can stay healthy...

Things to remember:

• They had a 3rd place schedule.  This year they will have a 1st place schedule.
• They had the AFC Central (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh (without Roethlisberger) and Ravens).  3-1 record.
• They had the NFC South (NO, Atlanta, TBay and Carolina (without Cam). 2-2 record.
• Rams had a down year, Arizona had a rookie QB.  Both should be better this year.

This is there schedule for next year -- it includes three long road games (depending upon how things shake out with C-19) but all 3 should be wins:

Home
Philadelphia Eagles
Washington
Buffalo Bills
Miami Dolphins
Green Bay Packers
*Arizona Cardinals
*L.A. Rams
*Seattle Seahawks
Away
Dallas Cowboys
N.Y. Giants
New England Patriots
N.Y. Jets
New Orleans Saints
*Arizona
*L.A. Rams
*Seattle
It would surprise me if they have home field throughout the playoffs this year.
 

The worry about the 49ers is that the last time the Vikings played them they ran the ball 47 times for 186 yards.

I do not see anything the Vikings did that can prevent that from happening again.

The Cowboys will be tough offensively.  They did an excellent job getting Andy Dalton to backup Prescott too.

If Cousins gets hurt (he has been awfully lucky thus far - knock on wood) the Vikings will be in deep deep trouble.

@"MarkSP18" said: The worry about the 49ers is that the last time the Vikings played them they ran the ball 47 times for 186 yards.

I do not see anything the Vikings did that can prevent that from happening again.

The Cowboys will be tough offensively.  They did an excellent job getting Andy Dalton to backup Prescott too.

If Cousins gets hurt (he has been awfully lucky thus far - knock on wood) the Vikings will be in deep deep trouble.

Couple things that might help us with that. We replaced a banged up and declining Joseph with Michael Pierce, and we get Gedeon back. I know several think he won't even make the team, and that's possible, but Eric Wilson, while better in coverage and better range than Gedeon, was often out of place in the game against the 49ers. Gedeon is a better take-on LB, and more gap-disciplined player. 

I was going to say I think Pierce will really help the Run D this year...

But our offensive line needs to play better on the road too. That would have helped the D immensely.