In 1979, the San Francisco 49ers were the joke of the NFL. After hiring Bill Walsh to be the GM/head coach, the 49ers finished their second straight season at 2-14. In 1980, second-year players Joe Montana and Dwight Clark started to emerge on offense and the team tripled its win total. In 1981, San Francisco drafted three Pro-Bowl defensive backs and traded for Jack Reynolds to turn its once soft defense into one of the best in the league. Montana and Clark connect for the catch, and two seasons after going 2-14, the 49ers started the 1980s off with a Super Bowl win and built the foundation for one of the greatest dynasties of all time.

Flash forward to 2004. San Francisco hires newcomer Mike Nolan after a 2-14 season. In Nolan’s first campaign he finishes 4-12, many experts questioning the direction of the team and considered them to finish toward the bottom in 2006. Last season, second-year-players Alex Smith and Frank Gore began to emerge on offense and the team finished 7-9. This off-season San Francisco added Len Pasquarlli’s top free agent, Nate Clements, along with three other new starters on defense, Ashley Lelie at receiver, and still have eight picks in the first four rounds of the 2007 draft. Could the 49ers pull off another shocker and go all the way two years after finishing 2-14?

Surely the 49ers weren’t anyone’s favorite in 1981. Other teams have pulled off similar feats in recent years. In 1998 and ’99 the Ravens went 6-10 and 8-8 before winning the Super Bowl with current 49ers quarterback Trent Dilfer. The Rams went 4-12 in 1998, and hadn’t had a winning season since 1989 before winning the Super Bowl in ’99.

In the modern NFL turnarounds are more common than the status quo, but the 49ers still have some work to do. San Francisco came on strong last season, built behind an excellent left side of the offensive line. In his second year, Frank Gore led the league in yards per carry and runs beyond 20 yards. On defense Walt Harris led the NFC in interceptions and the ageless Bryant Young continued to disrupt offenses, gaining penetration just about every play.

The 49ers went into this offseason needing to upgrade their pass coverage, their pass rush, right tackle and the receiving corps. Clements certainly will upgrade the pass coverage by himself, and although Michael Lewis struggled in coverage at times in 2006, he’s still an upgrade over the Keith Lewis and Tony Parrish combo he will be replacing. Tully Banta-Cain will take over at strong side linebacker, and his coverage skills are severely underrated.

The pass rush, which was the team’s biggest weakness last season, should still struggle registering sacks. Like the prototypical 3-4 schemes in the NFL today, the 49ers are built to stop the run. Isac Sopoaga and newcomer Aubrayo Franklin will battle for the starting nose tackle job, both weighing more than 320 pounds. Young, a career defensive tackle, will play at one defensive end while Ron Fields, a 310-pound former college nose tackle, will play the other. The 49ers will have one of the largest defensive lines, and though Young will bring a little pressure, the line as a whole will log very few sacks.