The San Francisco 49ers have endured a tough season to say the least.
Following their 38-10 blowout defeat to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, FS1’s Colin Cowherd shared a perspective on the team that resonates deeply with their current struggles.
While Cowherd is known for bold opinions, his latest analysis on the 49ers strikes a nerve, raising important questions about the team’s future.
“What are [the San Francisco 49ers]? My take is: A little old, they’ve peaked, and I’m not sure everybody in the building quite gets it,” Cowherd said on The Herd.
Cowherd elaborated further on his take, suggesting that the 49ers might be dealing with the emotional and physical toll of disappointing Super Bowl losses.
“There’s a lot of stuff about San Francisco that you’re asking yourself, ‘Is everybody on the same page?’ The team feels old, they feel tired, they feel beat up,” Cowherd said.
“Maybe if these two Super Bowl trips garnered a trophy, it would feel different.”
The idea of a “Super Bowl hangover” is not new in sports, and Cowherd’s words reflect a common narrative in the NFL.
Teams coming off disappointing season-ending losses – especially in the Super Bowl – often struggle to regain their momentum in the following season.
Cowherd also questioned how the 49ers would manage their roster moving forward, as the team faces the challenge of keeping a competitive edge with a number of key players aging or nearing the end of their primes.
“It’s about rebuilding for the [San Francisco 49ers],” he said said. “And rebuilding in the NFL, when everybody in the building knows – like the Raiders – we gotta get a quarterback, it’s much easier than being San Francisco sometimes.
“Because, San Francisco is a mile from Detroit, Philly, Kansas City, Baltimore, and Buffalo. But I don’t think they think that. So, there’s disagreements in the building.
“Obviously Trent Williams, 38, expensive, maybe the last year or two, everybody knows that. But what do you do with Christian McCaffrey? Or Deebo? Or Greenlaw? Or Kittle? Or a lot of these players. What do you do with Brock Purdy?
“Are you gonna pay him the bag? Why would you pay him early? Now he’s got a second injury, this one’s mysterious… But, they’ve got a lot of questions in this building.”
As Cowherd alluded to, the 49ers are dealing with a ton of injuries, not just the shoulder issue with Purdy.
Sitting at 5-6 with a trip to Buffalo on tap, Kyle Shanahan and the Niners have very little margin for error.
Having said all of that, the NFL world is well-aware of just how dangerous San Francisco is – when they’re healthy.
After all, you could make the strong argument that the 49ers are the most talented team in the entire league. (However, unfortunately for them, games are not played on paper.)
What are your thoughts on Cowherd’s comments? … Do you agree with him that the Niners have gotten old and that their Super Bowl window is now shut???
