
But plenty of other teams - the 49ers included - have not gotten over that hump. And if the 49ers are finally going to remove themselves from their five-year morass, they will need to have a lot of things come together - new coordinators on both sides of the ball, five new starters on defense, two new receivers and a young quarterback who has started just 23 games. That's a combination that none of the other recent high-jumping teams have had to put together all in the same offseason. And it's the reason the Niners probably won't make the playoffs in 2007.Although they improved from 4-12 in 2005 to 7-9 last season, the 49ers were just 4-4 at home and did not finish well, losing four of their last six games. Also, according to research done by Pro Football Reference, they were the least competitive 7-9 team in league history, with a point differential of minus-114. That means the 49ers will need to make vast improvement both in points scored (they ranked 24th in 2006) and allowed (32nd) if they are to bump their record in 2007.
Even though San Francisco has statistically the third easiest schedule in the league, it actually has a rather tough road to get to the playoffs; if the defense doesn't come together quickly and quarterback Alex Smith doesn't improve significantly, the 49ers could be staring at another 7-9 record. Yes, three of their first five games are at home. But all three of those home contests are tough: Arizona swept the 49ers in 2006, Seattle has won six of the past eight meetings, and Baltimore went 13-3 in 2006. And the road games are in St. Louis and Pittsburgh. The 49ers probably won't win more than two of those first five.

The 49ers probably won't fall prey to the roller-coaster rides those teams have taken because the Niners seem to be steadily building. But just because they were aggressive during the offseason does not mean they will be able to put it all together and keep the bandwagon rolling this year.
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