What Shanahan told 49ers after heartbreaking loss to Seahawks originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
A common theme echoed around the 49ers’ postgame pressers and locker room after another brutal collapse Sunday in San Francisco’s 20-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium.
Missed opportunities.
More specifically, opportunities to close out an all-important divisional win after holding a late lead.
After the game, coach Kyle Shanahan’s message to his team revolved around their inability to finish the job on offense while they had the chance.
“We had every opportunity to run away with that and put it away,” Shanahan told reporters when asked to share his postgame message to the team. “I thought the defense did a bunch of that, especially getting that turnover in the third quarter. Felt really good about going in and scoring, and we couldn’t overcome the penalties. It happened on two of our drives — that cost us points at the end of the second [quarter] and also in the beginning of the third quarter.”
In the first drive Shanahan referred to, the 49ers had a first down at the Seattle 34-yard line at the two-minute warning of the opening half. However, a false start by right tackle Colton McKivitz, followed by a sack and two incompletions, left San Francisco out of field-goal range and forced to punt.
Likewise, an Isaac Yiadom interception shortly after the half gave the 49ers superb field position. But back-to-back penalties caused the San Francisco offense to stall and settle for a field goal. That’s at least seven points left on the board between those two drives that proved pivotal in the end.
Even so, the 49ers still had a chance to ice the game when they got the ball back up three with under four minutes remaining, but they couldn’t manage more than one first down and stalled early in Seattle territory.
“When you have opportunities to do it, and you hurt yourself with penalties and a few missed opportunities, you got to finish it there at the end,” Shanahan concluded. “It was disappointing because I thought the offense had every chance to do that, and we didn’t get it done there.”
Quarterback Brock Purdy added that Shanahan acknowledged his own role in the 49ers’ shortcomings Sunday.
“We had plenty of opportunities to win that game, take it over, and we failed at it,” Purdy detailed postgame about Shanahan’s message to the team. “He obviously took ownership for himself as well, and we all did in the locker room. We’re all not satisfied with how we played, but he said next game is up, we got to watch film, get better from this and focus on Green Bay.”
On the other hand, cornerback Deommodore Lenoir expressed a more desperate sentiment regarding the 49ers’ hopes for the remainder of the season.
“Every game at home from now on is a must-win,” Lenoir told reporters.
Considering the 49ers’ play this season, that won’t be easy. San Francisco’s home schedule still features matchups with the division-foe Los Angeles Rams and the NFC-leading Detroit Lions, not to mention back-to-back road trips to Green Bay and Buffalo starting next week.
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