Te’o says emotionally drained 49ers aren’t NFC West favorites Originally appeared in NBC Bay Area Sports
The 49ers have won the NFC West in three of the last five NFL seasons, but Manti Te’o predicts there will be a new division champion in 2024.
The former NFL linebacker assessed San Francisco’s chances of repeating as NFC West champion Monday on “Good Morning Football,” bizarrely using the 49ers’ preseason performance as a reason to doubt them.
“There’s a look that you get when someone really believes they’re better than you,” Te’o said. “And I think over the last five to 10 years, we’ve gotten used to the San Francisco 49ers running around the NFC West, if not the NFL in general, as these big bullies…
“Well, I turned on the TV and watched their last two preseason games when their starters played, and I just see an emotionally drained team. They’ve been to the NFC Championship four (of) the last five years. They’ve been to the Super Bowl twice, and they lost the Super Bowl to the same team… We just watched the Seattle Seahawks preseason game, and you can see that party going on there…
“It’s not the same when I watch the San Francisco 49ers, so they’re not the favorites for me this year.”
It’s true: The 49ers have experienced plenty of ups and downs over the past five seasons, with a pair of losses in the NFC Championship Game and Two Super Bowl lossesAnd this preseason has been anything but ordinary for San Francisco, as Offensive stars Trent Williams and Brandon Aiyuk hold out in search of new contracts.
But as the past shows, the 49ers are fantastic at overcoming adversity. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t have made it to so many high-profile postseason games after suffering such devastating losses. And San Francisco made deep playoff runs in the seasons following contract disputes with star players Deebo Samuel and Nick Bosa, proving the team is focused on business once the regular season begins.
So yeah, maybe the Seahawks are looking a little more optimistic this preseason. But who knows, it could all be a catfish-like ruse as Seattle looks to get back to the top of the division.