Last season the 49ers had to put up with a very rough situation. Walking on and off the field each weak not knowing if their coach, owner, or front office personnel would be around at the end of the season. The players didn't even know if they would make it to the end of the season. Naturally this became a distraction. Heading into the playoffs, there were rumours flying that Steve Mariucci would be fired after the season to be replaced by Mike Holmgrem. An insane idea, that developed somewhere along the line of Mariucci having two consecutive dazzling seasons, continuing the success originally imposed by Bill Walsh in the early 80's. After beating Green Bay, the rumours still continued, unfairly putting more and more pressure on Mariucci. Thankfully the so called front office stuck to him. At that point last season, the 49ers had already lost, Dwight Clark, Vinny Cerrato and others to the Cleveland Browns. Eddie Debartlo Jr. and his sister Denise were fighting over control of the team. It was only natural the 49ers players would eventually crumble under the pressure.

This season, the front office, is solid. Bringing back Bill Walsh to affirm the dynasty on top of the NFL. John McVay is back to solidify the teams salary cap problems, and new comer Terry Donahue is a power all by himself. Things are looking up for the 49ers, and it's largely due to the release of tension within the organization. Still there are troubles between Eddie and Denise, but these are not even half of what the team had to put up with last year. Both of the Debartlo's want control of the team, so it isn't like the team will be jumping cities any time soon. Especially with the NFL extending their hands to help the 49ers erect a new stadium.

The time is now for the 49ers. It's time to take control and dominate other teams. The offence is explosive scoring more points then any other teams last season, and even leading the league in rushing yards. The defence is improved over last season, with the 49ers paying special attention to it in the draft. There are still a couple moves the 49ers may want to make, and probably will after they receive some salary cap relief after June first. The team would like to sign a veteran corner, Ashley Ambrose has been mentioned in this role. The team would also like to sign Terrell Owens to a long term deal. Currently Owens is the franchise player, and is due to receive the average salary of the top five wide outs last season over one year. This is about 3.5 million dollars. The 49ers and Owens would like to come to an agreement on a long term deal to relieve the salary cap, keep Owens in San Francisco and so that Owens will know what his future holds.

With the pressure greatly relieved heading into next season, it will be even more fun to watch the 49ers. They will be playing with more enthusiasm, and hopefully the new players will plug the holes made apparent by other teams last season. The time is now, to go back to the Super Bowl. Steve Young and Jerry Rice are aging, hopefully they will get one more taste of the ultimate victory.