The 49ers once again fell short of winning the Super Bowl, but the team is aware of the difficult fix it must make to change that in 2026.

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85)

The San Francisco 49ers have been one of the best teams in the NFL for the last decade, but they haven’t been able to capture a Super Bowl title. The team, once again, fell short in 2025, losing to the Seattle Seahawks in the Divisional round. The Niners can find solace in Seattle being the eventual Super Bowl champs, but losing 41-6 to the Seahawks shows there’s more work to be done.

Veteran tight end George Kittle was recently asked what that work will consist of.

In an exclusive interview with FanSided, on behalf of Old Spice, Kittle was asked what needs to happen next season for San Francisco to return to the Super Bowl. The veteran tight end quickly responded, “stay healthy.”

While that may be true, that answer highlights the brutal reality that the team is facing in pursuit of a Super Bowl.

George Kittle says staying healthy is the key to 49ers returning to Super Bowl

Typically, team’s offseason fixes are things like investing in the offensive line, finding elite offensive playmakers, or adding dominant edge defenders. Those are all tangible things that can be addressed in free agency and the draft.

Health, on the other hand, is one of the few things in football a team can’t control.

That makes San Francisco’s path to a Super Bowl difficult, because it’s essentially out of the its hands. Everyone knows health is important, and players do everything they can, year round, to stay healthy. Unfortunately, injuries are just as random as a dice roll.

The odds haven’t been in the 49ers’ favor at all, losing multiple key players, on both sides of the ball, from the start of the year to the end. That includes Kittle, who tore his Achilles in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. While the tight end apparently had a best-case scenario tear, and is determined to have a fast recovery, it’s very possible San Francisco starts the 2026 season with health not on its side.

The 49ers did prove their resiliency this season, still winning 12 games despite all the major injuries, but they won’t be able to guarantee a better fortune in 2026.

The only thing San Francisco can do is build up its depth and be better prepared for when things go wrong.