The 49ers are still playing games with some semblance of meaning, despite a disappointing 2016 campaign.
It wasn’t until a year ago that a playoff berth seemed imminent.
Now, we’re seeing the results of that effort.
After an 0-4 start to 2016, the 49ers will play 16 home games this season, which is a record for the franchise.
And as far as games going up and down, we don’t have an exact metric for that yet, but we’ll know more soon.
Here’s how things stack up.
This season’s 49ers have played five games with at least one winning margin of plus-13 points or less, and six with a plus-minus of plus+16.
The 49ers won three of those games by seven points or more.
And while they haven’t won since 2010, they did win the NFC West this year.
They’re the first team since the 2000 Ravens to win four of five games by more than six points.
The 2016 season also marked the 49er’s first postseason appearance since 2004, and the first time since the 1980 Packers that they won their division.
It’s the first playoff appearance in San Francisco since 1990, and they’re the only team since 1970 to make it to the Super Bowl in that season.
That includes the 2000 Packers, who did it in 1967.
So, yeah, we should be happy about it.
But what does this mean for the 49s in the coming years?
Well, let’s just say we’re getting closer to the team’s goal of being the best team in football.
And even though this will be a year of transition, there’s no reason to expect the 49es to regress any time soon.
If they can remain healthy, and if the 49thers can continue to get good production from players like NaVorro Bowman and Michael Crabtree, they’re going to be very, very good.
So while the team might be in the middle of a bit of a rebuilding phase, the hope is that they can be very good this year and that they’ll be very great next season.
We’re not going to know what the 49 is going to look like this season until 2018.
But we’re starting to get a better sense of what we can expect.
The 49er fanbase will be excited about that, and we’ll see what happens.
But the 49, who are tied for last in the NFC South, are still a long way from being a legitimate Super Bowl contender.