This weekend was an interesting one for the San Francisco 49ers, and we’re here late on Sunday Surmising to follow up on something we wrote over a year ago after the team crashed and burned with a 6-11 record in 2024. Despite yet another season of rough injuries to star players, the 49ers still managed to post a 12-5 record, come within a handful of points in securing the top playoff seed, and impress doing it.

We’d say Head Coach Kyle Shanahan earned his stripes in 2025, really. We don’t do an analysis of the NFL Coach of the Year award in our annual pieces, but Shanahan would be a big contender for the hardware this year after this coaching job. Yes, the 49ers got hammered yesterday in Seattle to see their season come to an end, but how did this team win 12 games despite only outscoring its opponents by 66 points overall? Luck?

Possibly. San Francisco ended up with a 6-1 record overall in games decided by a touchdown or less, including an improbable 23-19 playoff road win against the defending Super Bowl champs. In fact, the team started out 4-1 this season with all five games ending up with a TD margin. This included three victories against division opponents, which kept the 49ers in the NFC West title hunt until the final game of the year.

Alas, the Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams both were better teams, but San Francisco, mathematically speaking, ended up as the third-best team in the conference, despite playing the third-hardest schedule—no easy breaks here after a 6-11 campaign last time out, eh? So much for balanced scheduling. But the 49ers lost two All-World players on defense and hung on nonetheless: coaching, yo.

Look at this injury reality for the San Francisco organization: defensive lineman Nick Bosa played in three games while linebacker Fred Warner made it on to the field for six games. Quarterback Brock Purdy played in nine games, while tight end George Kittle managed 11 appearances. These four players are 80 percent of the team’s heart and soul (running back Christian McCaffrey being the other 20 percent).

How did this team win 13 games, including a road postseason matchup against the defending champs?

Well, we’re going to say it was Shanahan, perhaps doing his best coaching job yet. Injuries derailed prior S.F. seasons with him at the helm, 2020 and 2024 specifically, after the team lost Super Bowls to the Kansas City Chiefs in prior seasons. Yet the coaching staff held the team together this year with glue, seemingly at times, while Shanahan remained calm and collected through the whole mess. Two points show this, truly.

First, backup QB and reclamation project Mac Jones went 5-3 as a starter with a 97.4 QB rating. Neither statistic stands out on its own, except when you consider his prior stats hitherto (20-29, 84.9) with the New England (2021-2023) and Jacksonville (2024) franchises. Shanahan squeezed a lot out of Jones and possibly set him up for a nice offseason bidding war for his services. But posting a winning record was key here.

Second, the 49ers didn’t blow many games that they could have won, which has been Shanahan’s fatal flaw in his career (as explored earlier). Every time San Francisco lost, it was a situation where the team was behind for much of the game, thanks to an injured defense scrambling the best it could. In fact, the 49ers defense did amazing work considering all the issues, including that huge Sunday Night Football victory.

Now, Shanahan has more time to work with in S.F., although parts of his roster are aging, and there is drama again with some players, like wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who missed the entire season. The 49ers have not won a Super in more than 30 years now, but this time, it certainly wasn’t Shanahan’s fault at all. Perhaps next year will be the year they’re able to stay healthy and finally deliver on all their talent promise.