If there was ever a moment to put a football team’s positive mental outlook to the test, it came late in Week 17 at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field.



The 49ers had led the Seahawks all game, but their advantage had been whittled away to just five points. In the closing seconds, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson willed his offense toward the goal line. The script seemed clear: It was the ultimate “here we go again” situation in the 49ers’ house of horrors.



Right tackle Mike McGlinchey remembers the mood on the 49ers’ sideline.



“Everybody was just holding their breath,” McGlinchey said. “I was praying. I was making sure our team, if we needed it, got some divine intervention as well.”



So they might have been swimming in a pool of anxiety, all right. But underneath it lay a dynamic that the 49ers might not have fully had in losing seasons past.



“I was super nervous, and me Deebo...