NFL Staff Tabs Joe Burrow for MVP, Jaguars for Super Bowl at 2026 Midseason

Q: What secret strategy kept the 49ers thriving after Kyle Shanahan's preseason car accident threatened his 2026 coaching campaign?

The 49ers’ “secret” was not a hidden scheme so much as staff continuity and a deliberate fallback plan that let Kyle Shanahan step back while recovering from concussion symptoms after his preseason car accident. San Francisco had prepared for offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak to call plays in the season opener if Shanahan was not ready. Shanahan also said the coaching staff had worked together long enough to function “like a machine,” with Kubiak and defensive coordinator Raheem Morris able to absorb responsibilities seamlessly when he missed parts of camp and was limited in practice. That continuity appears to be the key reason the team kept rolling. The staff already knew Shanahan’s routine, timing and expectations, so the 49ers did not need to reinvent operations. Shanahan later described the experience as forcing him to trust the infrastructure around him rather than trying to control every detail himself. The broader football reasons ESPN highlighted for San Francisco’s success were also depth, disciplined execution and resilience through injuries. In other words, the 49ers survived the scare because they had a veteran system in place, trusted deputies ready to run it, and a roster capable of sustaining weekly performance even amid disruption.

3 articles · Updated · CBS Sports · Nov 12

15 NFL staff voters made Joe Burrow the clear midseason MVP pick with 11 votes and projected Jacksonville as the most popular Super Bowl winner with four votes.
Burrow earned that lead by topping the league in completion rate at 74%, passing touchdowns at 23 and passer rating at 114.8 after four straight games with at least four total touchdowns.
Jacksonville also swept the AFC South vote and got a boost from GM James Gladstone's trade-deadline additions of Jordan Davis and Jessie Bates III, while the 49ers were the unanimous NFC West pick.
New York's 5-2-1 start made first-year Giants coach John Harbaugh the Coach of the Year favorite, with the Giants leading the NFC East despite already using three starting quarterbacks.
The halfway-point projections underscore a volatile season in which the preseason-favored Rams are outside the playoff picture and the Chargers, after back-to-back 11-win years, remain winless.