Kyle Shanahan Discusses the 49ers' Mindset at 5-5

The 49ers have a 29 percent chance to make the postseason.

Nov 10, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. (1) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prior to the game at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Kyle Shanahan was asked about the 49ers' mindset now that they're 5-5 and have just a 29 percent chance to make the postseason. Here's what Shanahan said courtesy of the 49ers' p.r. department.

Q: You and president of football operations/general manager John Lynch have made a point of bringing in guys that, self-starters, guys who love football, that you don't have to really monitor that much. I'm just curious as to 10 games into a season where it hasn't gone the way that anybody expected, do you still see the same resolve and the confidence and the enthusiasm that you need to see?

SHANAHAN: “What are you asking exactly?”

Q: I'm saying you have a team pretty much of self-starters that are used to a lot of success. They haven't had as much this year and I'm wondering do you still see that same resolve and the same confidence and the same enthusiasm at five-and-five?

SHANAHAN: “I'm still confused by your question. But I mean, yeah, we have guys who love football. Enthusiasm at five-and-five, it’s not the same as what our record was last year. But in terms of, I think you're asking like, do you guys still work hard and play hard and try to get after it? Yeah.”

Q: What was the general mood around the building today?

SHANAHAN: “I think we were just, we were pissed off from yesterday. That was a tough loss. We had every ask chance to win it and we didn't get it done. So, I think guys were disappointed and upset, but nothing, we all know each other pretty well in here. We understand our expectations and we just had a good team meeting, addressed a bunch of the fourth quarter, kind of watched it all together and then we broke up into our position meetings. But, I think guys are pissed and ready to put that game behind us. Today is always a hard day to deal with it because of some of the frustration of what happened. And now I think our guys can't wait to get to Green Bay as fast as we can.”

Q: I know you always say that each play is different, but were there any kind of common threads that went through the issues in the fourth quarter? And how many plays did you address with the team in that meeting?

SHANAHAN: “When they took the lead 13 to 10 with three minutes to go in the third, the offense got the ball two more times and our defense got the ball two more times. So, we just addressed both of those drives. The offense had two chances to take it into our own hands, and we did that on one drive, and we didn’t on the other. And the defense had two chances to take it in their own hands and they did it on one drive, having a huge fourth-down stop, getting us the ball back. And then the offense didn’t in the four minute and then Seattle answered on that last drive. So, we had two opportunities to do it and we were 50-50 on them, just like they were. And when you do that, it's usually who has the ball last, and they did. And there were different plays in all of them, but those were the two issues.”

Q: With nine penalties in the game, seven on offense, was that something that you addressed with the team? I mean, it seems uncharacteristic of what you've been doing this season. 

SHANAHAN: “Yeah, that was a huge thing. I thought that was one of the biggest problems for the offense on the day. And I actually thought we played a better game offensively than we did on that Thursday night game. We didn't get, you know, on that Thursday night game we got the busted coverage on [WR] Deebo’s [Samuel] 70-yarder and we got those two explosive runs which really helped. But we played better football this game. We just didn’t at all with the penalties and you know, we had one 14-play drive where, I don't know how many 14-play drives that I’ve been a part of that don't end with points or a missed field goal or turnover. To go 14 plays and then punt it, we had eight plays inside the 50 after that turnover for the field goal having to overcome it a couple times and get them again. So, that was our biggest problem on the day I felt offensively.”

Q: You’ve talked in the past there's generally every point in every season where it's like the ‘sky is falling’ and things look like hell and sometimes the sky is falling and sometimes it's just adversity that you end up pulling out of. What have you learned from these kinds of moments in your past, if anything, that you've kind of learned to apply?

SHANAHAN: “Just that the only thing that matters is what happens in those three-and-a-half hours in a football game. And the only thing that you can do about those three-and-a-half hours is focus on football and how to get better at that stuff in practice in meetings. And anything outside of that, any talking about it, any pointing to other people trying to make up any type of narrative of it that doesn't have to do with exactly what's happening on the football field will only make that stuff harder. Those are the challenges because guys know their job and they're just supposed to do their job and guys don't always know what other people are responsible for and doing and that's why you’ve got to make sure you got tough-minded people who can focus on really what their job is and nothing more than that. And it gets harder when you have adversity and stuff like that when you aren't getting as many W’s as you want. But no matter how much harder it gets, you’ve got to always understand it's about the ball and you’ve got to keep it about the ball and nothing else.”

Q: After going to three games where you've lost the lead in the fourth quarter, do you feel like your team has still has that killer instinct at the end of the game or is there some sort of ‘Super Bowl hangover,’ or emotional hangover from the journey that you guys have been on so far?

SHANAHAN: “No, I hear that and I understand all the questions, but it's back to my last answer. I don't think there is an answer about a journey or Super Bowl hangover. I think it's about what's happening in that exact game. The week before was almost the same game. I think we went down 13 to 10 or something in the third. I think they came back and tied it up and we went down and won it on the last play. So, I don't think that means we had a killer instinct in that game and not in this game. They took a lead 13 to 10 in the fourth quarter. We went on a 14-play drive and scored a touchdown and overcame a bunch of negative stuff on that drive and still took a 17 to 13 lead. Our defense held them on a fourth-and-one, I think with three and a half minutes to go. So I saw the killer instinct on both of those drives. And then we got to run out the clock on offense and we run three plays, get it down there in second-and-11. We missed a throw and catch, which I think would've got us in the redzone and allowed us to run out more clock, possibly the clock, but we didn't make it and then they got us on the last drive. So we’ve got to play better on those two last drives. And it usually comes down to that in football. If you don't want it to come down to that before that you’ve got to play pretty flawlessly to get up a couple scores before the end. But that's why most games in this league do come down to the end and we got that done versus Tampa, but we didn't get it done this week.”

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