49ers HC Kyle Shanahan Sounds Defeated After Losing to the Bills

The 49ers just lost their second game in a row by at least 25 points for the first time since Jim Tomsula was the head coach. That's how bad this season has been.

Dec 1, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan on the field before a game against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images / Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

The 49ers just lost their second game in a row by at least 25 points for the first time since Jim Tomsula was the head coach. That's how bad this season has been.

After the 49ers' humiliating loss to the Bills, head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked to give his assessment of the state of the team, and his assessment was hardly inspiring. Here's what he said.

Q: It seems like your team is lacking physicality. Have you noticed that?

SHANAHAN: "Are you saying lack of physicality from our offense? I thought we ran the ball real well. Our passing game didn't do well, so I didn't sense a lack of physicality from our offense."

ME: Did Brock Purdy have an injection in his throwing shoulder before the game?

SHANAHAN: "No, Brock's shoulder was totally fine."

Q: You've lost two games in a row by at least 25 points. How disappointed are you?

SHANAHAN: "Real disappointed. We have a lot more pride than this. We definitely know we have some people out, but we can play a lot better than that. Having three turnovers each of these weeks and getting none, when you do that and you don't stop the run like we haven't in these past two weeks, you usually can guess the outcome."

Q: How much did the snow augment Josh Allen's skill set?

SHANAHAN: "It's hard to say it helps it or hurts it. He's got those skills no matter what the weather is. He's as good as it gets."

ME: How do you assess Brock's performance?

SHANAHAN: "We didn't throw it much. I thought he battled, but he didn't have a lot of opportunities in the pass game. It was unfortunate that the ball slipped on that last third down. He was going to the right spot and the ball just slipped out of his hand."

Q: Why did you call a handoff for Kyle Juszczyk on the goal line? He hasn't had a whole lot of touches this season.

SHANAHAN: "We do a lot on the goal line. I thought it was good schemed runs for the fronts they run down there. Felt really good about it. I don't think Kyle has fumbled the ball in a long time. I don't know if he was going to score but he was going to be at the one. We defintiley liked the play. They stripped him and made a good play."

Q: Did you have a kicker issue?

SHANAHAN: "I'm not thinking about that right now. I know Jake Moody missed two in that game. Conditions weren't good. The 55-yard one before the half would have been an amazing kick. I thought the one before was the one he should have made."

ME: What gives you confidence your team can go on a run and make the playoffs?

SHANAHAN: "I'm just trying to win next week. I'm not talking about trying to go on a run. I'm talking about trying to win next week. All you do with that is go back to work."

Q: Do you think this team has the same fight in it that it had in the past?

SHANAHAN: "We're not as good of a team as those past teams. That's kind of how I look at it. We're not the same team at all. Every team each year is different. I'm not going to say that this team is the same as last year's team or we're not fighting as hard. We have a bunch of different guys out there. We've been trying to find a way since the beginning. Haven't quite found that yet. There's still a lot of season left and we expect to play better. But I'm not going to say that our team doesn't have fight."

Q: What was your message to the team after the game?

SHANAHAN: "There's no secret message. We'll watch the film, get on the plane and come back Wednesday ready to go."

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