SAN FRANCISCO – Mike Singletary entered his postgame news conference Sunday feisty and aggressive, like he was shot out of a cannon.

He said it was obvious why his team lost to the Tennessee Titans 34-27 – turnovers. No, he wasn't concerned about losing ground in the NFC West.

"I don't care about the Cardinals," he boomed. "I care nothing about the Cardinals."

Does he think his team still can make the playoffs?

"Absolutely. Absolutely."

He also was asked why the 49ers featured their most creative offensive package this season, one that frequently used three receivers, the shotgun and two-tight end formations, and one that mostly eliminated the heretofore staple of the offense, lead blocker Moran Norris.

"You're asking me why I did it?" Singletary said, seeming a lot like Jack Nicholson on the witness stand in "A Few Good Men." "You've been asking me all week why I wouldn't do it. Now you're asking me why did I do it."

It was a legitimate question for two reasons:

First, he and offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye spent last week explaining how tough it would be – impossible, really – to suddenly shift course and become a team that spreads its receivers all over the field.

Second, the move worked. The 49ers threw for a season-high 286 yards while Frank Gore found room to roam from start to finish for the first time this season. Gore rushed for 83 yards and one touchdown and finished with a 5.5 yards-per-carry average.

Singletary perhaps bristled at the question because he never really wanted his offense to move in that direction. Calling that many pass plays – 51 when you count sacks and scrambles – means you risk committing turnovers.

And turnovers killed the 49ers on Sunday.

Alex Smith threw three interceptions, two on tipped passes and one when he locked in on wide receiver Josh Morgan. One was returned 39 yards for a touchdown by pesky and pugnacious cornerback Cortland Finnegan, sealing the victory for the Titans. Smith also fumbled twice, one of which was recovered by Tennessee. In all, the Titans scored 24 points off of 49ers turnovers.

Singletary also likely noticed the Titans played precisely the style of football he once envisioned for his 49ers.

Chris Johnson, the league's leading rusher, ran for 135 yards despite having an 81-yard touchdown run called back because the heal of his cleat ever so slightly grazed the sideline.

The 49ers had Johnson bottled up for long stretches of the game, and they held him for no gain or negative yardage five times. But the Titans were stubborn in their play-calling. Despite trailing for a good chunk of the game, the Titans had almost twice as many run plays (34) as pass plays (20), and they had no turnovers.

That's Singletary ball to a T – the Titans went out and hit people in the mouth.

And the eye.

Gore exited the locker room looking like he had been in a 12-round fight. At some point early in the game, a Titans player stuck his finger through Gore's face mask when he was at the bottom of the pile. Gore soon was peering through a small slit in his right eye.

Gore kept playing – and running as well as he has this season. But his swollen face was symbolic of a 49ers squad that lost two starters – Nate Clements and Joe Staley – last week and watched as nine more players landed on the injury report Sunday.

With a game Thursday against the Chicago Bears, the 49ers don't have much time to heal. They're beat up and reeling from four consecutive losses.

Maybe the message Singletary was sending with his feisty news conference was that the only recourse is to start swinging back.

Read Matthew Barrows' archives and blogs at www.sacbee.com/sf49ers.