Poll: How many wins in 2019 will constitute a 49ers success?

The San Francisco 49ers are going to be under more pressure to deliver in 2019 than the previous two years under general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan. How many wins, though, will mean a successful year?

Ultimately, the NFL is a bottom-line business. There are two ways to look at this, too: strictly from a wins-and-losses standpoint, or the 31 other non-Super Bowl-winning teams are failures, essentially.

Either way, the San Francisco 49ers have yet to deliver in either the aforementioned criterion. With two full years under the current regime of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch, the Niners have a combined 10 wins despite a slew of roster changes and shake-ups from 2016.

Granted, 2017 can get a pass. That was a “tear down the old” year, for sure, and the addition of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo midway through the season created unwarranted hype leading into 2018, which ended up being highlighted more by a swarm of injuries, including Garoppolo’s ACL tear, than by anything else.

In year three of the Lynch-Shanahan tenure, however, expectations are going to be different.

Lynch and Shanahan now have had three offseasons at their disposal, riding three consecutive NFL Drafts with top-10 selections and a considerably large amount of cap space available during that span.

It seems as if Lynch understands the pressure, too, as he indicated on San Francisco’s 95.7 The Game (h/t 49ers Webzone) last week:

"We understand full well we’re going into Year 3. This is a production-based business, and we’ve got to start winning football games. …Ultimately, all the reasons why we didn’t win last year, they’re just excuses. I can tell you, though, the one thing I felt good about, in a tough year like last year, I think a lot of positive things happened. We battled through them. We got to see who’s going to battle through when things get tough."

So, what would constitute a successful 2019 campaign? And how many wins are needed to state the 49ers are truly on track to being a legitimate Super Bowl contender in the near future?

A losing record, of course, would be disastrous. The Niners haven’t had a true winning record since 2013, and anything less than a .500 season would suggest all the changes both Shanahan and Lynch have implemented aren’t generating the desired results.

At the same time, San Francisco’s schedule this season doesn’t do a lot of favors, either, so some may want to temper the lofty expectations of 10-plus wins and a serious shot at the postseason.

Maybe the 49ers merely playing meaningful football games in December would be a bonus.

What say you, Niners fans? How many wins would constitute success in 2019? Take the poll below:

San Francisco could always exceed expectations, of course, much like the team did back in 2011 during the first year under then-head coach Jim Harbaugh.

No one would complain, naturally, but a lot of things would have to go right for both Shanahan and Lynch in order for that to happen.