George Kittle delivers his 2 cents on if 49ers stand a chance at going to Super Bowl 2026

George Kittle is extremely confident that the San Francisco 49ers will be back in playoff contention next season. Kittle and the 49ers had a rather disappointing 2024 run. The 49ers finished up with a record of 6-11 which was dead last in the NFC West division. Of course, the team also had to deal with a lot of injuries to key players, especially that of star running back Christian McCaffrey.

With that being said, Kittle interviewed with Sports Illustrated on Monday and was asked point-blank if he believes he and his team can get back to the postseason in 2025. Kittle said he's "100 percent confident" they can and explained exactly what he and the 49ers need to correct to make it happen.

"100 percent confident," Kittle said. "If you turn on our tape this year - and besides like looking at, 'Hey, we're missing like 40 guys off our team' it felt like. We didn't run the ball very well. We didn't stop the run very well. We had a lot of turnovers on offense and we didn't get any turnovers on defense.

"So like those four things together, really hard to win football games. Let's get better at those things and, who knows, like we might win six more games, and then all of a sudden you're 12-5 and you're in the playoffs."

Horrific drop off for George Kittle and the San Francisco 49ers in 2024

The 49ers' disappointing 2024 run was relatively unexpected given they were in the Super Bowl just a season ago.

San Francisco is loaded up on defense and is usually one of the more formidable rushing attacks in the NFL. However, with injuries to players such as McCaffrey, Trent Williams, Dre Greenlaw, Jordan Mason and more, the team certainly felt the impact.

NFL: San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals - Source: Imagn

With a 2025 offseason to allow everyone to get fully healthy again, and general manager John Lynch likely to make some moves in both free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft, San Francisco is hoping to get back in the running for the NFC Conference Title, as they seek to win their first Super Bowl since 1995.

The 49ers have appeared in three Super Bowls since 1995 - in 2013, 2020 and 2024, losing all three. Perhaps next season, with a fully healthy roster and some additional pieces on both sides of the ball, San Francisco can finally snap their Super Bowl losing streak.