Trey Lance: 4 ambitious goals for 49ers QB in 2022

Goal No. 3: Trey Lance must be at the helm of a 49ers playoff team

Trey Lance’s third goal is a lot more objective, but it makes sense. After all, if you look at the generic understanding most casual fans and “lazy” pundits have of NFL teams, it’s all based on quarterback play.

I.e. “playoff teams have good quarterbacks, and bad non-playoff teams don’t.”

Of course, it’s not that simple. It never is. The lazy narrative would say Jimmy Garoppolo is a good quarterback because he “took” San Francisco within minutes of making it to the Super Bowl last season.

However, that conclusion doesn’t take too much to dive into the numbers, film and other analysis to realize Garoppolo and the offense almost entirely flamed out down the stretch and into the postseason.

Enough of last year, though.

If Lance wants to silence critics, all he needs to do is wind up being steady enough to help engineer the 49ers into a playoff berth this season. As was the case with a so-so Garoppolo in 2021, the Niners have more than a strong enough supporting cast to make it happen, and the road to a playoff berth is significantly easier in the NFC than it is in the opposite conference.

Want to silence the doubters? Lance has to make the postseason.

And it would surely help if he reached the fourth and final goal.