Given the hiring of HC Kyle Shanahan and GM John Lynch, it’s clear that the San Francisco 49ers are charting a new course toward stability. Toward returning the franchise to the standard of relevance and success that had once been synonymous with the team – a standard that hasn’t come close to being met over the last three seasons.
But now, with Shanahan, Lynch, and a roster that has a boatload of new faces (twenty-two and counting), the 49ers are embracing change as they embark on their new era. And though the NFL schedule makers ostensibly gave them a break with the league’s twentieth toughest schedule – an opponent’s combined winning percentage of .