Shanahan details 49ers’ next-day mindset after loss to Seahawks originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Although it might seem like it, the 49ers’ season is not over.
There are still seven games remaining in the regular season, but time is running out for San Francisco.
The 49ers have not looked like a team in NFL playoff contention. And coach Kyle Shanahan has come under scrutiny for a season in which they clearly have underachieved.
“We were pissed off from yesterday,” Shanahan said on a conference call Monday with Bay Area reporters. “That was a tough loss. We had every chance to win it, and we didn’t get it done. I think the guys were disappointed and upset.”
The 49ers dropped to 5-5 on the 2024 NFL season with a 20-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium. They have yet to beat a team with a winning record, and they are 1-5 against teams with records of .500 or better.
The 49ers have been in dire predicaments in recent seasons and found ways to finish strong. But this is a new year with no signs that this team is capable of turning it around.
What Shanahan said he learned during those times is that the focus must remain entirely on correcting issues and getting better.
“It’s about the ball, and you got to keep it about the ball and nothing else,” Shanahan said.
Shanahan generally eschews addressing any topics that do not have a direct correlation to performing better on the field, he said.
“The only thing that matters is what happens in those 3 1/2 hours in a football game,” Shanahan said.
“And the only thing that you can do about that 3 1/2 hours is focus on football and how to get better at that stuff in practice or meetings. Anything outside of that … will only make that stuff harder.”
The 49ers held a team meeting Monday, during which they went over the final four possessions of the game after the Seahawks took a 13-10 lead late in the third quarter.
The 49ers’ offense scored a touchdown to reclaim the lead. Then, the defense stopped Seattle on a fourth-down play.
But the offense stalled on its next drive, when they had an opportunity to put the game away. And the defense could not keep Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith from engineering the game-winning touchdown drive.
Shanahan said he showed specific plays from those drives to illustrate the mistakes that prevented the 49ers from closing the door.
The end-of-game sequence was similar to a week earlier when the 49ers survived a scare against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Jake Moody’s 44-yard walk-off field goal.
A few plays here and there — or a few penalties here and there — can make all the difference.
“The week before it was almost the same game … and we won it on the last play,” Shanahan said. “I don’t think that means we had a killer instinct in that game and not in this game.”
Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast
This embedded content is not available in your region.