The San Francisco 49ers have had deep playoff runs under Kyle Shanahan. They’ve been in a position to win the Super Bowl twice, been in the NFC Championship, and, most recently, the Divisional playoff round.
San Francisco made the postseason multiple times during the early 2010s under Jim Harbaugh, making similar runs. So what do the 2011 New York Giants, 2012 Baltimore Ravens, 2013 Seattle Seahawks, 2019 Kansas City Chiefs, 2021 Los Angeles Rams, and 2023 Kansas City Chiefs have in common?
They all beat the 49ers in the playoffs and went on to win the Super Bowl. Of course, three of those were in the Super Bowl.
For good measure, you can tack on a team that John Lynch played for, the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That means seven of the previous eight teams to beat the Niners in the postseason went on to raise a Lombardi Trophy. That number could have easily been 8 of the previous 9 if the Eagles didn’t pull a 49ers and blow a 4th quarter lead to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.
It’s not a stat that means anything or says anything about either side. It is a stat that bodes well for the Seattle Seahawks, as history has a way of repeating itself.
Let’s play the hypothetical, which teams above would you rank as the best opportunities the 49ers had to win the Super Bowl? You could even make it a top 3, given the various options.
