49er Fan Posted December 10, 2012 Posted December 10, 2012 49ers post-Mariucci: 2003 - 7-9 (Erickson) 2004 - 2-14 (Erickson) 2005 - 4-12 (Nolan) 2006 - 7-9 (Nolan) 2007 - 5-11 (Nolan) 2008 - 7-9 (Nolan, Singletary) 2009 - 8-8 (Singletary) 2010 - 6-10 (Singletary, Tomsula) 2011 - Harbaugh - 13-3 2012 - Harbaugh - 9-3 Head coach can make a big difference. Franchise QBs often become champs at some point (Brady, E. Manning, P. Manning, Rodgers, Brees). But the easiest way to win in the NFL is to build a strong defensive team. Current NY Giants. Baltimore 2000. Tampa Bay 2002. New England did it before Brady was a veteran. All you need is a handful of high-impact players. SF now has a top defense with Aldon Smith, Patrick Willis, and Navarro Bowman - where just a couple of years ago the unit was terrible. The current offense isn't great, but they usually score enough to win because the defense is so dominating. Bruce Smith and Buffalo's defensive unit was very similar for the Bills in the late 80s. Those great Buffalo teams were very good defensively, then became great teams overall with Kelly, Thomas, Reed, etc.
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