It seemed inconceivable this time last year, right after Trent Baalke and Chip Kelly were fired in tandem, that the 49ers would begin 2018 beaming with a similar optimism from earlier this decade during Jim Harbaugh’s famous turnaround in 2011.



But here the 49ers are, with a promising 26-year-old quarterback running an offense created by one of the league’s most respected minds. The misery of the post-Harbaugh era is gone, but remains a key piece to the puzzle that allowed the 49ers to get to this point with Jimmy Garoppolo and Kyle Shanahan.



Winning in the NFL is hard. And the 49ers made things harder on themselves through mismanagement, miscalculation and malcontent that began during Harbaugh’s run and left lasting effects. But after bottoming out under Jim Tomsula and Kelly, Jed York’s team is finally trending upwards. It took making smart decisions, good timing and, of course, a little luck.



A lot had to go right. Every team is...