49ers not even taking the playoffs for granted despite historic start
The consensus is that the 49ers are the best team in football through five weeks of the NFL season and, at this point in the campaign, this vintage is on pace to take its place as the finest in franchise history. San Francisco decimated the Cowboys 42-10 on Sunday Night Football to improve to 5-0 […]
The consensus is that the 49ers are the best team in football through five weeks of the NFL season and, at this point in the campaign, this vintage is on pace to take its place as the finest in franchise history.
San Francisco decimated the Cowboys 42-10 on Sunday Night Football to improve to 5-0 in utterly dominant fashion.
It is no surprise, therefore, that the 49ers have leapt into the top spot of Aaron Schatz's DVOA rankings for FTN Fantasy.
A more eye-catching revelation is that the Niners' 5-0 start represents the best by any 49ers team by that metric, including every team during the 1980s, a decade in which San Francisco won four Super Bowl titles.
All but one of the six teams above them on the list of the best in history by DVOA through five games made the Super Bowl. The 2019 Patriots were the only team that did not do so. Washington's 1991 team and the 1999 Rams both lifted the Lombardi Trophy.
The 49ers have a long way to go before they can think about a sixth Super Bowl championship, with head coach Kyle Shanahan keeping the example of the 2015 Falcons in his mind as he keeps his team on an even keel. Shanahan was offensive coordinator on that team, which slumped to 8-8 after starting 5-0.
Asked about the significance of what they did to the Cowboys, Shanahan replied:
"I mean it sounds awesome when you say all that stuff, but absolutely nothing. If we would've lost this game, we would've been 4-1 and now we're 5-0. I mean it's exciting and all this is fun, but I've been in the NFL way too long, been 5-0 and haven't made the playoffs before. All that stuff really doesn't matter. You want to be in games like this just leading up to it. You want to be battle tested in every facet of stuff that can happen later in the season. I'm glad we did it the other way, being 5-0 feels good, but it means nothing until you get to the end."
Everything about what the 49ers have done so far this season suggests they will be there at the very end, ready to write themselves into franchise history in the most meaningful way, but Shanahan and his players won't take that for granted until they have the trophy in hand.
49ers leave no doubt over how they feel about Brock Purdy after latest blowout win
The praise poured in for QB1.
