Kyle Shanahan and Nick Bosa provide their reasons for losing in Week 5. Bosa knows it’s a long season and believes there are greener pastures
Mistakes at the worst possible times have haunted the San Francisco 49ers in all three phases this season. It’s the reason they’re 2-3.
Yes, it’s true that the Niners are banged up and are without star power in an already top-heavy roster. But when you have an 85 percent win probability with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter and possession of the ball when it’s 1st & goal, those are games you must win, regardless of opponent. When that opponent is in your division, there are no excuses.
Kyle Shanahan thinks Week 5’s divisional loss was tougher to swallow than Week 3’s:
“But in these two games, these two division games that we believe we should have won with the lead we had in the second half, I thought this one was worse than the Rams one in terms of we got sloppier in terms of our turnovers and things like that, not scoring in the second half. When you have a lead on people, you need to finish them.
The way you finish people is you continue to score, and if you aren’t doing that, you can’t turn it over, and you’ve got to stop people at the end. We had a couple chances there at the end, especially on that fourth-down. I thought [Arizona Cardinals QB] Kyler [Murray] made a hell of a play. But those are the plays you’ve got to stop to win these, especially when it’s tight like that.”
When you have four possessions in the second half and don’t score, it’s difficult to win, even if you begin the half with a 13-point lead. Even after the first turnover, the defense held the Cardinals to a field goal. But the next turnover on downs led to a touchdown, and then the final fumble was a field goal.
Yet, you still had all the confidence that the offense would march down the field and get inside the red zone. But an interception on the second play of the drive ended any hopes of a comeback.
Nick Bosa is as cut and dry as it gets when it comes to answering questions. He was straightforward in his assessment as to why the 49ers fell short against the Arizona Cardinals:
“It’s pretty simple in the NFL. Turnovers, not playing complementary football. Like I just said to Laura, this organization, since Kyle has taken over, has found ways to win. It’s not about how good your players are, how explosive an offense is, or how good a defense is. If you’re turning the ball over and not making those plays on defense in the crucial moments in the NFL.
I haven’t lost any confidence in the team. It’s early. It’s a long year. We’ve been through worse. I think we’ll respond well. I think we need to turn the page on this one. It’s pretty clear why we lost. I think it’s a blessing in disguise that we’re playing on Thursday.”
As troubling as the previous two losses have been and as prisoner-of-the-moment most fans are, the schedule should provide some comfort.
Yes, the 49ers just dropped a game to the “lowly” Cardinals, but they beat themselves. It goes without saying that you can’t do that and expect to win games.
But Seattle just lost to Danny Dimes, Dallas was fortunate to escape with a road victory against Justin Fields, and it would not be surprising to see the Kansas City Chiefs lose tonight to the New Orleans Saints.
The 49ers will be favored in the rest of their games. On FanDuel, San Francisco is still the outright favorite, with room to spare to win the conference.
This is not the only team in the NFC that is underperforming. Bookmakers expect the Niners to get back on track, get healthy, and reel off several wins. It starts with the three games before the bye week.