The season needs to get here already...
So I did a quick Google search to see how many predictions I could find from 2011. I chose this year because I remember many people being down on the team after spending the previous couple of seasons being very hopeful. I know the biggest reason the team turned around and out played expectations was Jim Harbaugh but an improved defense and more offensive weapons definitely helped. So here goes:
Fooch 7-9 https://www.ninersnation.com/2011/9/5/2406107/49ers-nfl-season-predictions-2011-win-over-under
Gordon Block (BR) 6-10 https://bleacherreport.com/articles/808940-san-francisco-49ers-2011-predictions-outcomes-for-all-16-regular-season-games#slide16
David Willis (BR) 4-12 https://bleacherreport.com/articles/839459-san-francisco-49ers-predictions-2011-breaking-down-each-49ers-game-in-2011-12#slide18
Grant Cohn 9-7 NFC West Champs (I was really surprised by this) https://49ers.pressdemocrat.com/2011-nfl-predictions/
ESPN 6-10 http://www.espn.com/nfl/preview11/team/_/name/sf
Take a little bit and read each of these. There was a lot of doubt in what the team could do because of how they kept under performing the previous couple of years and the fact that Harbaugh was a huge unknown. The secondary was a question mark as was the front 7.