By DJ Harding –
Despite losing in the NFC Championship to the Philadelphia Eagles last year. There was hope for this one as quarterback Brock Purdy was injured during that championship game and it was his rookie season. So the sky was the limit for this team traveling into the 2023-24 season.
San Francisco got off to a hot start to open up their season winning their first five games, Including a big Sunday night win over the Dallas Cowboys in week five. In what was a NFC Divisional round rematch from the previous season the 49ers defeated the Cowboys 42-10.
The 49ers were one of two undefeated teams after week 5. San Francisco was riding high but as life works there are highs and lows. San Francisco went from 5-0 to 5-3 as the 49ers lost three straight games to the Browns, Vikings, and Bengals.
The bright spot during that losing streak was Christian McCaffrey who at this point had 15 total touchdowns through eight weeks. Who tied the record for most consecutive games with a touchdown tying Lenny Moore who did it with the Baltimore Colts in the 1963-64 season scoring 17 touchdowns. McCaffrey’s 17 games dated back to the previous season and facing the Jaguars with a chance to break it he unfortunately didn’t find the endzone.
Despite McCaffrey not breaking records the 49ers bounced back and beat Jacksonville 34-3. San Francisco began a six game win streak which included a revenge game against the Eagles where the 49ers trounced the Eagles 42-19.
The 49ers then lost to the Ravens and Lamar Jackson which gave them their fourth loss of the season. San Francisco would secure a win in Washington versus the Commander after the Ravens loss which gave them the first seed.
The 49ers then received a bye with the first seed before proceeding to play the seventh seed Green Bay Packers. In both the divisional round versus the Packers and in the NFC Championship versus the Detroit Lions the 49ers found themselves battling from behind in both games.
Despite the games versus both teams in their playoff run so far not looking pretty the 49ers fought through and advanced to their first Super Bowl since 2019 when they played the Kansas City Chiefs.
Coincidentally their Super Bowl opponent is the Kansas City Chiefs who are looking to go back to back while the 49ers are looking to win for the first time since 1994.
The 49ers and Chiefs face off in Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII in Allegiant Stadium with kickoff scheduled for 6:30 PM EST.