In search of a top playoff seed, the 49ers plan to bounce back against L.A. Rams
The message from coach Kyle Shanahan to 49ers players coming off Sunday’s disappointing loss to the Atlanta Falcons was simple: Win the next two games and the goal of reaching the No. 1 seed in the playoffs is accomplished.
“It pissed us off for a while,” Shanahan said Tuesday. “(But) it’s neat to be able to say to the team that ‘Look guys, last week before we played them we controlled our own destiny. It was a tough loss that we feel we were good enough to win and didn’t get it done, but we still control our own destiny.’”
Despite falling 29-22 to Atlanta, San Francisco can still get a first-round bye and home-field advantage by winning its games against the Rams on Saturday at home and at the Seahawks on Dec. 29, where the team hasn’t won since 2011.
49ers in good position from hot start
At 11-3, the 49ers controlling their destiny the product of stacking wins earlier in the season before the schedule stiffened in November.
The’re hoping to get back on track amid their 3-3 run over their past six games. All three losses have come on last-second plays, including game-winning field goals from Seattle (11-3) and Baltimore (12-2), and Sunday’s touchdown from Falcons wideout Julio Jones with 2 seconds remaining.
Ultimately, the loss Sunday didn’t change the equation for the 49ers. With Seattle beating the Panthers earlier in the day, it was likely winning Dec. 29 at CenturyLink Field would be required to take the NFC West crown regardless of the outcome against Atlanta.
“You never want to lose a game,” tight end George Kittle said. “But fortunately we played well enough well in the first (half) of the year so that loss didn’t really hurt us too bad. We’re more just disappointed in ourselves, but it’s another week to get better and we’re looking forward to playing the Rams.”
Head coach Sean McVay’s team is also coming off a loss, which had massive implications as their season hangs by a thread. The Rams (8-6) fell, 44-21, to the Dallas Cowboys and would be eliminated from postseason contention with a loss to San Francisco. They’re two games behind the No. 6 seed Minnesota Vikings (10-4) with two weeks remaining.
The theme coming from the 49ers locker room after Sunday’s game was a general lack of intensity, particularly on the offensive side. The letdown came after a crucial three-game stretch against the Packers, Ravens and Saints, that ended with consecutive road games and a stay in Florida before traveling to New Orleans.
Kittle on Tuesday acknowledged the club’s energy was at a different level against the Falcons after the emotional high of the thrilling victory over the Saints that proved to be the signature win of the season.
“You could feel on the whole sideline,” Kittle said. “Whether it’s coaches, players, staff, it just kind of felt different. So we got to figure out how to change that and get back to how we play football.”
Kittle had his most productive game of the year recording a career-high 13 receptions for 134 yards. But the focus on him meant fewer targets for the team’s receivers who all had strong outings the previous week in New Orleans.
Sanders, Samuel and Bourne struggle
Emmanuel Sanders, Deebo Samuel and Kendrick Bourne combined for 15 receptions, 251 yards and three touchdowns against the Saints. Versus Atlanta they had just 49 yards on four catches and were held out of the end zone.
It was an odd performance from San Francisco’s offense that typically spreads the ball around. Fullback Kyle Juszczyk on Sunday became the team’s 13th player this season to catch a touchdown pass, tying an NFL record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The 49ers’ 20 points marked their third fewest of the season.
“We wanted to go to George, we liked the matchups,” Shanahan said, noting the Falcons were using a lot of man coverage against the Pro Bowl tight end. “George got most of the play calls and stuff. ... We don’t always want it to be like that, but we also don’t mind if we get the win done. We thought we had a chance to, but that wasn’t why we lost.”
Shanahan’s game plan appeared far more conservative than the previous week when he pulled out a double-reverse receiver pass in which Sanders connected with running back Raheem Mostert for a touchdown and a read-option using Juszczyk as the primary ball handler before flipping to Mostert for a key third-down conversion.
“We probably saw a record of (trick plays), and the New Orleans game seemed pretty important to pull those off to win,” Shanahan said. “Definitely didn’t feel as strongly about that during the Atlanta game, especially when we have a 19-10 lead with eight minutes to go. I don’t feel the need to be as aggressive on some of those things. I think we did what we needed to do to win, but we obviously didn’t get it done.”
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, whose 90.3 passer rating was his lowest since the loss to the Seahawks in November, was asked how the Patriots dealt with late-season losses amid their constant run of contention. Garoppolo was on two Super Bowl-winning teams in New England before getting traded to San Francisco midway through 2017.
“I think the biggest thing is just you can’t let it hang around. You’ve got to move on,” Garoppolo said. “Once you watch the film, get the corrections fixed, talk it out and everything. Once it’s over with, it’s over with. This week, especially on the short week, just had to get over it quickly.”
This story was originally published December 18, 2019 at 4:00 AM.
