Heading into the season, the San Francisco 49ers were riding the momentum of a five-game win streak to close out last year. And they certainly had a lot of positive things to build on.
They signed their franchise quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to a then-record $137.5 million dollar deal. They had one of the brightest young linebackers in the game in Reuben Foster, and lured former arch-nemesis Richard Sherman south, to join them.
They also signed running back Jerick McKinnon away from the Minnesota Vikings, and together with holdover Matt Breida, seemed to be the perfect one-two punch out of the backfield for HC Kyle Shanahan’s system.