Niner Noise
FanSided

5 reasons the 49ers should be considered playoff contenders in 2019

By Timothy L. Miller

DeForest Buckner #99 of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
DeForest Buckner #99 of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
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SUN VALLEY, ID – JULY 6: Jed York, chief executive officer for the San Francisco 49ers football team, attends the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 6, 2016 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Every July, some of the world’s most wealthy and powerful businesspeople from the media, finance, technology and political spheres converge at the Sun Valley Resort for the exclusive weeklong conference. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
SUN VALLEY, ID – JULY 6: Jed York, chief executive officer for the San Francisco 49ers football team, attends the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 6, 2016 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Every July, some of the world’s most wealthy and powerful businesspeople from the media, finance, technology and political spheres converge at the Sun Valley Resort for the exclusive weeklong conference. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) /

No. 1: This is the year the entire 49ers organization is expected to take the next step

Former 49ers owner Eddie Debartolo Jr. was, in my opinion, one of the greatest owners in the history of American sports. His secret was two-fold. He genuinely cared about everyone in his employ and their families. The stories of him greeting players returning to the locker room are legendary.

Second, he never let anyone get too comfortable. Hall of Fame head coach Bill Walsh famously butted heads with Debartolo over the team’s performance. So much so, that Walsh considered quitting several times before finally departing after the 1989 Super Bowl victory. Three Super Bowls in Walsh’s 10 years is proof that pressure can be a good thing.

Pressure creates diamonds. Or so the rumors say. If that is indeed true, 49ers CEO Jed York will be iced out from head to toe.

Next. San Francisco 49ers: 5 changes Kyle Shanahan needs to make in 2019. dark

This is the make-or-break season for just about everyone in the Niners building but York. This will be the third year of a rebuild that has yet to yield results in the win column. Another four-win season, and John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan won’t be able to sit down for fear of burning holes in their Levi’s.

As history has proven a little heat may be just what is needed.