The San Francisco 49ers are the reigning NFC champions, but they were unable to win the Super Bowl last season. Even though the 49ers were able to make the Super Bowl in 2019-20, general manager John Lynch understands the team still needs to improve.

Per Brian Witt in NBC Sports Bay Area:

“I think it’s a state of a team that I think is very well-equipped to compete for championships,” Lynch said, via ProFootballTalk. “Now, it’s incumbent upon us to find a way to be better than we were last year, which was pretty darn good.”

Last season, Jimmy Garoppolo was able to play in all 16 games for the first time in his career. As a result, there are heightened expectations for Garoppolo entering the 2020 NFL season.

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At the same time, San Francisco's defense was one of the most dominant groups in 2019. Altogether, the 49ers were the No. 2 ranked defense in yards allowed, and the No. 8 defense in points allowed.

Everything was able to come together perfectly in Kyle Shanahan's third season at the helm. However, even with how good they performed a season ago, the 49ers fell short of hoisting the Lombardi trophy. Lynch, who won a Super Bowl as a player, realizes that teams either get better or worse every season.

“We talk about it a lot, Kyle and I. It’s a philosophy that we kind of bonded on when we first started having conversations. It’s something Jon Gruden used to talk about. You never stay the same. You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse.”

After a disappointing loss in the Super Bowl, the upcoming season could go one of two ways for the 49ers. With that in mind, Lynch is confident that San Francisco is one of the teams that got better this offseason.