I'm a big Niner fan but I personally think they're over-hyped right now. They have to show they can win close games and beat good teams.
They won eight games last year but the Cardinals were the ONLY winning team they beat (a 10-6 team) and that's not saying much.
Their only other wins were against crappy teams and all but one was at home: Rams twice, Seattle, Jacksonville, Detroit and the Bears. So they haven't shown me much at all so far. They've got a lot to prove. Their defense is basically the same as last year and their corners are average at best and can't stay with fast receivers. Alex
Smith hasn't proven much yet either. Yeah he played better than he had in the past but he was ranked about 19th in the league overall. Not even average.