5 Reasons to Believe the San Francisco 49ers Could Be a Playoff Team in 2011

I’m not going to lie to you: the San Francisco 49ers are a long shot of making the playoffs this season.

The team has missed the playoffs every season since 2002 and the struggles of the past few years have not appeared to be resolved. For this team to win, there are clear areas where dramatic improvement has to be made.

With that said, I hate playing Debbie Downer. There has to be a reason to look forward to the upcoming season. There have to be a few slivers of hope that this will be the year the 49ers return to their winning ways.

Here are five reasons to hold out hope for a shot for the postseason in 2011.

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