What NFL experts project for the 49ers’ crucial 2024 season Originally appeared in NBC Bay Area Sports
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The 2024 NFL season is here and competitive teams like the 49ers have their sights set on a victory in Super Bowl LIX.
After a crushing loss in Super Bowl LVIII to the Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco endured a difficult offseason and kept the majority of its star-studded roster together. But the offseason certainly wasn’t without its obstacles and drama.
The vibe surrounding the 49ers during training camp and heading into the 2024 season wasn’t great, but that appears to have changed in the days leading up to their Week 1 “Monday Night Football” game against the New York Jets.
Can the 49ers overcome the offseason drama and come away with another win? Will they be able to do it this time? NFL experts weighed in and gave their predictions for the 2024 season:
Who will win the NFL MVP?
Patrick Mahomes: 18 votes
Josh Allen: 9 votes
CJ Stroud: 5 votes
Joe Burrow: 5 votes
Jordan Love: 2 votes
Brock Purdy: 1 vote
Jalen Hurts: 1 vote
Who will win the Offensive Player of the Year award?
Tyreke Hill: 12 votes
Christian McCaffrey: 8 votes
Bijan Robinson: 4 votes
CeeDee Lamb: 3 votes
CJ Stroud: 2 votes
Justin Jefferson: 2 votes
Breece Hall: 2 votes
Josh Allen: 2 votes
Brock Purdy: 1 vote
Patrick Mahomes: 1 vote
Jordan Love: 1 vote
Marvin Harrison Jr.: 1 vote
Ja’Marr Chase: 1 vote
Saquon Barkley: 1 vote
Who will win the Defensive Player of the Year award?
Micah Parsons: 15 votes
Myles Garrett: 10 votes
TJ Watt: 6 votes
Aidan Hutchinson: 3 votes
Maxx Crosby: 3 votes
Chris Jones: 2 votes
Fred Warner: 1 vote
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah: 1 vote
Nick Bosa: 1 vote
Who will be the NFC champion?
Lions: 16 votes
Packers: 10 votes
49ers: 8 votes
Eagles: 5 votes
Rams: 2 votes
Jeans: 1 vote
Who will win the Super Bowl?
Bosses: 23 votes
49ers: 6 votes
Texans: 3 votes
Bengals: 3 votes
Crows: 2 votes
Lions: 2 votes
Packers: 1 vote
Bills: 1 vote
Super Bowl game
Lions-Chiefs: 11 votes
Packers-Chiefs: 7 votes
49ers-Chiefs: 5 votes
Lions-Bengals: 2 votes
Eagles-Texas: 2 votes
Eagles-Chiefs: 2 votes
Packers-Texans: 1 vote
49ers-Texans: 1 vote
Packers-Ravens: 1 vote
49ers-Ravens: 1 vote
Lions-Crows: 1 vote
Rams-Chiefs: 1 vote
Eagles-Dolphins: 1 vote
Cowboys-Chiefs: 1 vote
Lions-Bills: 1 vote
49ers-Bills: 1 vote
Packers-Bengals: 1 vote
49ers-Bengals: 1 vote
NFC West Champions
(21 votes: Abdoo, Band, Battista, Bergman, Blair, Chadiha, Edholm, Gonzales, Grant, Kownack, Magdziuk, Mariucci, Okada, Parr, Patra, Rank, Reuter, Ross, Shook, Walker, Zierlein.)
2) Los Angeles Rams (+350) | 6 votes: Baca, Bhanpuri, Cersosimo, Filice, Florio, Jones-Drew.
3) Seattle Seahawks (+600) | 1 vote: Rosalia.
“The 49ers’ grip on the division (and, perhaps, the conference as a whole) appears to be slipping, with 75 percent of voters picking them to repeat as champions after 88 percent predicted that outcome last year. Still, San Francisco appeared on all 28 ballots, selected as the top wild-card team when it wasn’t picked to win the West.
“The Rams also received a share of the division’s first-place votes but are largely predicted to finish as the sixth or seventh seed. The rest of the league should take note of whoever emerges from this group, though, as the NFC West champion has earned a trip to the conference title game in 10 of the past 13 seasons and the Super Bowl in four of the past six.”
NFC Wild Card Teams
T-3) San Francisco 49ers (21 points)
Fifth favorite (7 votes): Baca, Bhanpuri, Cersosimo, Filice, Florio, Jones-Drew, Rosenthal.
“The NFC will be represented by… Jordan Love, Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers. I’m going to take this prediction a step further. I’m going to put this in writing. They’re going to play as a wild-card team, just like (Aaron) Rodgers’ team did all those years ago.
“And to make this streak happen, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur will take his team on the road and beat his old friend Sean McVay in Los Angeles, on the road and beat the rival Lions in Detroit and then on the road and beat his former colleague and nemesis, Kyle Shanahan, in San Francisco.”
“The Packers are returning to New Orleans, where they won a Super Bowl 28 years ago. And who will they face? They’ll be facing the same team that the Packers franchise faced in Super Bowl 1. They are the most dominant team of this era and they are a team that has helped define a generation of football fans. They’ll be facing the Kansas City Chiefs.”
Super Bowl Winner:Bosses
“Amid all the talk of trades and strikes, it almost seems like an afterthought that the 49ers will line up and play football on Monday night against the Jets,” Barnwell wrote. “On paper, everyone within the core that led them to the NFC title is returning for another attempt at winning a Super Bowl, including left tackle Trent Williams, who ended his strike this week.
“While the debates over Brock Purdy’s impact on the offense continue, all we can say for certain is that teams have yet to find a way to stop the former seventh-round pick on a consistent basis. Since Purdy entered the starting lineup in Week 13 of the 2022 season, the 49ers are 18-5, lead the NFL in expected points added (EPA) per play on offense and rank third in EPA per play on defense. They’ve been the best team in football during that span, even if they’ve yet to capture a championship. Barring a series of injuries to Purdy and his fellow superstars atop San Francisco’s roster, this team will be back in the playoffs for another run.”
Super Bowl Prediction: Chiefs 34, Packers 20.
Super Bowl:49ers 23, Bengals 20; Christian McCaffrey MVP
Seasonal Awards:
Most Valuable Player: Joe Burrow
OPOY Christian McCaffrey
Player of the Year: Micah Parsons
GOLD: Caleb Williams
DROY: Laiatu Latu
Return: Aaron Rodgers
Coach: Matt LaFleur
“I’m going to think 2024 will be the year of urgency. The two teams I have standing at the end, the San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals, are likely to see some roster changes over the next few years, depending on how their contracts are set up. So this could be the last chance, not for the franchises (both are too well-positioned for that), but for the particular groups of players on those rosters right now.
“And those groups of players have been knocking on the door for years, have had injury-destroyed seasons and are as talented as anyone in the NFL. To take it to another level: I almost picked the New York Jets to get past the Bengals in the divisional round and get a chance at the Chiefs, with the same dynamic there. So give me the same rematch of Super Bowls XVI and XXIII that I picked last year, but this time I’m picking San Francisco as the champion.”
NFC
1. Packers; 2. 49ers; 3. Buccaneers; 4. Eagles; 5. Lions; 6. Commanders; 7. Seahawks.
Wild card: 49ers over Seahawks; Buccaneers over Commanders; Lions over Eagles.
Divisional: Packers over Lions; Buccaneers over 49ers.
Conference Championship: Packers over Buccaneers.
Super Bowl: Chiefs beat Packers.
