All is falling apart for Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers
The head coach cannot deflect blame anymore. This blowout loss to the Green Bay Packers — and the sad state of the reigning NFC champs — is on him.
Kyle Shanahan took a virtual scalpel to the mess his San Francisco 49ers left behind at Lambeau Field. First, he blamed the run defense. Cited missed tackles. He was particularly agitated by his defense’s inability to get off the field in the first half — “one of worst ones I’ve been a part of.”
He took a shot at the officials. He lamented the fact that his own run game just never got going.
There were the three turnovers that led to 21 points. And the nine penalties. And asked about this team’s lack of physicality, Shanahan lamented injuries: linebacker Dre Greenlaw, a few defensive linemen, Jordan Elliott bowing out with a concussion.
Little things add up in pro football. But those little things usually lead back to one man: the head coach.
This was a jarring defeat for a team that’s lorded over the NFC.
One year after coming back to stun the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round of the playoffs, his 49ers were thoroughly humiliated, 38-10. The 49ers are 5-6, a wounded animal and — now — in danger of total collapse the final month of the season. Next up? A trip across the country to Orchard Park, NY to face the surging 9-2 Buffalo Bills fresh off a bye.
For San Francisco, all roads lead back to Super Bowl LIV. That’s when Shanahan’s worst flaw was exposed. Anybody with a sliver of football knowledge understands the absolute last thing you do in this sport is give Patrick Mahomes the ball last with a chance to win. Sean McDermott has learned the hard way, and apparently grown from painful experiences. For all of his X ‘n O wizardry, Shanahan’s complete lack of seeing the big picture cost the 49ers a championship last February.
Andy Reid’s Chiefs were well-versed in the new overtime rules, whereas Shanahan’s 49ers veterans sounded like junior high kids that wandered into a college exam. They had zero clue. That’s on the head coach. That wasn’t the first time this Silicon Valley team at the cutting edge of so much offensive innovation showed its foundational cracks, either. It’s too soon to write the obituary for the Shanahan Era 49ers. A coach whose eight playoff wins trail only George Seifert and Bill Walsh in San Francisco isn’t going to be fired.
But until Shanahan realizes he's got to change, nothing will.
He’s been too stubborn. He wilts late in games. It never appears as if he’s too interested in holding himself accountable.
So here are the 49ers, suffering one of the worst Super Bowl hangovers we’ve seen. Two Advils and a healthy Brock Purdy won’t do the trick.