San Francisco 49ers Have Much to Prove If They Want To Be Super Bowl Contenders

If there is one thing we have learned this far into the NFL season, it is that Jim Harbaugh is a genius and all others are less than him.

Ok. Maybe that is too strong, but he has a strategy to coaching that could not be figured out in college and has yet to be figured out in the NFL.

He has taken a decent NFL team that has experienced several disappointing seasons as of late to a 6-1 start to the season and possibly one of the best teams in the NFC.

The win at Detroit proved that, as does the second half against the Eagles. Other than that, Harbaugh and the 49ers have gone about their business week-in and week-out. It has led them to that 6-1 record and a couple plays away from a 7-0 record.

Despite all those good things, there is still a ton for the 49ers to prove this season.

Currently, the 49ers are said to be one of the best teams in the NFC, but can we really say that San Francisco can hang with a team like the Green Bay Packers right now?

To extend that further, can the 49ers really have Super Bowl aspirations?

It is the ultimate goal, right?

It is a long season and the 49ers are just seven games into it, but there is still a lot to learn about Harbaugh's boys. They have all the potential to be a legitimate contender in the NFL this season, but we have yet to fully see it despite a 6-1 start.

We can all agree that Harbaugh has positioned Alex Smith every game to have success on the field, but he has yet to show that extra something to make us say "Yep, that is a Super Bowl winning quarterback."

And maybe he does not need to.

Rex Grossman did not have it and he made it to a Super Bowl, and there have been many more less than decent quarterbacks before him.

However, the more Smith flies under the radar, the more opposing teams will feel the need to expose him.

To the 49ers' credit, those opposing teams will have to get around the monstrosity that is the San Francisco offensive line to get to Smith.

This is not to say that the 49ers cannot create that extra something to make them realistic Super Bowl contenders, and if anyone can create it it is Harbaugh. But giving a game away to the Cowboys, as well as keeping the Browns around into the fourth quarter are things that need to be fixed.

Harbaugh is learning and the team is learning, and that combination has led them to an NFC elite 6-1.

Give them another seven games and maybe we will be talking about the 49ers having realistic Super Bowl aspirations. For now, we can sit back and watch this team learn and develop as a whole and continue to play playoff-bound football.