The San Francisco 49ers are the favorites to win the NFC West in 2025. For a while, it was a popular take to bash the Niners' turbulent offseason, but now it seems that more NFL analysts are bullish on San Francisco's prospects in 2025.
CBS commentator Charles Davis recently said he thinks the Niners have a great chance to win the NFC West, prefacing it by saying, "I know this might be a little bit controversial. I feel like people have taken the 49ers and said their best days are behind them."
Who knew it was so controversial to say the 49ers could actually be good?
Fox Sports analyst Ric Bucher was also more bullish on San Francisco, again prefacing it by saying,"I think we’re writing the Niners off a little too soon. I think they’re going to look very different this year."
This is the natural progression of things in the Hot Take Industrial Complex. Yesterday's short-sighted conventional wisdom becomes something one can react to and attempt to sound smart by refuting. It probably will not be long until the analyst class begins saying the Niners are cooked again.
It is not at all unreasonable to believe San Francisco will rebound and win the NFC West in 2025. Most people probably look at the offseason departures and think that there is going to be a dropoff. What they are ignoring is that the 49ers still have a lot of talent on both sides of the ball.
Plus, their NFC West rivals have holes and may be overhyped at this point of the offseason. San Francisco needs to play better against NFC West opponents next season because it had a dismal 1-5 record against divisional foes in 2024.
The division figures to be close in 2025, so every divisional game is going to have added importance. San Francisco is going to have to treat those divisional games like they are playoff games.
The 49ers will have a great opportunity to get started on the right foot in Week 1 as they will take on their bitter rival the Seattle Seahawks on the road. Perhaps a Week 1 victory could truly set the tone against the NFC west for the rest of the season.
No matter what the analysts say, positive or negative, the 49ers have a great chance to take back the NFC West this season.