Steve Young sounded as if he could hardly believe the words as they came out of his mouth.
And while he qualified it to make sure people understood there is no such thing as a lock when it comes to predicting a championship in the NFL, the guts of what he said during his weekly appearance on KNBR is as follows:
“I don’t want to say in early December this team is a lock for the Super Bowl, but without injury, how does anyone beat ’em?” Young said Wednesday. “They look as good and talented as a team has been since the Cowboys of the early ’90s, our (teams) in the early 90s. They look that good. Top to bottom.”
The 49ers (9-3) host the Seattle Seahawks (6-6) Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
With their most recent one-sided win coming 42-19 against defending NFC champion Philadelphia, the 49ers are outscoring opponents by 13.6 points per game. Only Dallas, a team the 49ers beat 40-12, has a higher margin at 14.0. Since the start of the Super Bowl era, the 49ers have only had two seasons where they averaged more — 1984 under Bill Walsh when they went 15-1 and won the Super Bowl, and 1987 when they were 13-2 in a strike-shortened season but their first playoff game to Minnesota.
Of the seven 49ers teams that have outscored their opposition by 10 or more points per game, three have been coached by Shanahan. Here they are in order of the biggest average margin per game.
