The 49ers will try to shake off their Super Bowl hangover in the second half of the season – NFL

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — No matter how much the San Francisco 49ers tried to downplay the Super Bowl loser’s curse before this season, that’s exactly what the first half of 2024 looked like.

Summer is in power contract disputes. A series of injuries this has sidelined many of last season’s best players. Not an easy game for a team that has dominated several opponents in 2023.

It all adds up to the 49ers (4-4). went to farewell week with a .500 record and just fighting to get back into the postseason.

San Francisco held out Win over Dallas 30-24 with a dominant third quarter providing a blueprint for what the Niners need to do in the second half of the season to shake off their Super Bowl hangover and return to last year’s consistent level of play.

“I feel like we’re capable of doing everything we put our minds to,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “I look at where our team is and where I think our team can be, and I don’t think we’re there.” more. I think there are a lot of things we need to improve. I think we will gradually come to this. But I think we have the guys capable of doing it. We just need to make sure we are a better team in the second half than we were in the first half.”

Summer contract controversy that has seen stars Trent Williams and Brandon Aiyuk lack of training camp and injuries to top players like Ayyuk, Christian McCaffreyJavon Hargrave and Talanoa Hufanga failed to get into a rhythm.

The Niners blew a 10-point lead in the division in the fourth quarter. Rams And Arizona and failed in games against Kansas City And Minnesota. A team that won four of its first five games last season by at least three points was few and far between.

This is not an unfamiliar situation for a team that lost a Super Bowl.

Whether it was fatigue from extra games, disappointment from failure, or simple regression, teams that lost the Super Bowl often struggled to succeed the following season.

It’s something the Niners know well after falling to 6-10 in an injury-plagued 2020 season that followed the team’s first Super Bowl loss to Kansas City. They are one of 14 such teams in the last 35 seasons to miss the playoffs.

Overall, only three teams have ever won the Super Bowl in the year after it was lost, with the 2018 New England Patriots being the only team to do so in the last 50 seasons. Dallas and Miami did it back-to-back in 1971-72.

These Patriots are the only Super Bowl runners-up to even return to the title game the following season, as Buffalo lost four straight from 1990-93.

The Niners are hopeful they can repeat that success, and signs of a sluggish first half of the season are encouraging. San Francisco has been a much stronger team in the second half of the last two seasons, going 16-2 after its bye, fueling deep playoff runs.

Major contributions came from a rookie class led by outstanding right guard Dominic Puny and inspirational wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who provided great support as he returned to the field after being wounded in the chest a week before the first match they helped improve the team composition.

The expected return of injured players like McCaffrey and linebacker Dre Greenlaw could take some of the pressure off stars like Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, Brock Purdy, George Kittle and Trent Williams and get San Francisco back to where the team is. was at the last stage. several seasons.

“We have a long way to go,” Warner said. “We can be whatever we want. We have everything we need. From the players’ point of view, we are obviously at an impasse. We’ll be better in a week, hopefully some guys will come back. At this point, it’s about just being better. We can’t keep getting up for a game and then miss one and then say, “Oh, let’s try to find a way to win another one.” Let’s just get better.”

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