3 reasons why San Francisco 49ers will struggle in 2020

Niner Noise plays the pessimist and looks at why the 49ers could end up struggling in 2020 after a tough Super Bowl loss.

Sorry to be a downer, San Francisco 49ers fans. But someone has to do it.

The 2019 Niners had a meteoric turnaround last season, going from a four-win team the previous year all the way to the Super Bowl, ultimately losing in heartbreaking fashion to the Kansas City Chiefs.

And while there were some tough roster decisions that faced general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan, including saying goodbye to wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, the vast majority of San Francisco’s Super Bowl squad will return this upcoming season.

That bodes well, and there weren’t exactly a ton of holes for Lynch, Shanahan and Co. to fill this offseason. Those that did exist were largely addressed.

There’s little reason to suspect the 49ers suffer some sort of serious drawback in their attempt to repeat their NFC championship crown. Hopefully more this time around.

Most pundits and analysts see the Niners getting close to their 13-win campaign from a year ago. Perhaps not quite as dominant, but certainly effective enough en route to the playoffs. FanSided’s own 2020 predictions for the red and gold suggest an 11-5 finish, albeit with an early exit in the Wild Card round.

But what if San Francisco falls much shorter from even that position? What would be the reasons why?

While it’s never fun to speculate on the negative possibilities for the 49ers, it at least serves as a good exercise to understand what could go wrong this upcoming season.

Here are three reasons why the Niners significantly regress in 2020, and let’s hope they’re all wrong.