49ers avoid slippage after turnaround season

The San Francisco 49ers are bucking a trend. Most teams that go from having losing records one year to posting 10 or more wins the next year typically fall back to 9-7 or worse in the third year of the cycle. According to the Pro Football Post's Joe Fortenbaugh, 29 teams have gone from a sub-.500 record to an above-.500 record over the past 10 years. In 26 of those cases, the team has finished with no more than nine wins the next season. The 49ers are in good position to avoid that fate after posting a 6-2 record through the first half of the season. Barring a collapse, San Francisco is set up for another double-digit win season and a second consecutive playoff appearance. The 49ers are bucking the trend by being far better statistically than they were last year. They needed improvement this year because so much of their success last season was predicated on their favorable turnover ratio, which was a whopping plus-28. Instead of winning with turnovers and field positi...