Tackling efforts often come up empty
CARSON, Los Angeles County — The 49ers know their tackling is an issue. Statistics show they’re the worst team at it, with a league-high 43 missed tackles coming into Sunday’s game. They spent the week prior to the game against the Chargers addressing the issue in practice.
Yet, tackling was still an issue Sunday.
“Of course, it’s disappointing,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “I’ve got to watch tape to get a better idea. I was pretty happy with the first half. I thought we were wrapping guys up, but we bounced off a few times in the second half.”
There was a 56-yard punt return at the end of the first half on during which several players whiffed on making a tackle. On Melvin Gordon’s 34-yard run in the fourth quarter, five 49ers failed to make the tackle. That run set up the Chargers’ go-ahead field goal.
Too often it looked like the 49ers were going for the strip instead of trying to wrap up the opponent and bring him down.
“We have to tackle better,” safety Antone Exum said. “We have to just continue to rep it in practice and watch it on film and see why we’re missing the tackles.
“Are we lunging? Leaving our feet too early? Not putting our pads on guys?”
Yes. Yes. And yes. All of the above.
Last week, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said the team needed to tighten up.
“It’s very clear when you turn on the tape that we’re actually lunging and ducking our heads at the point of attack,” Saleh said. “When you teach tackling, you’ve got to run your body through their body.
“Somewhere along the line, there’s a disconnect. As coaches, we’ve got to do a better job getting that message across.”
The best tackler on the team is Reuben Foster. On Sunday, he had seven tackles (five solo).
“We’ve got to work on a few things and just get better,” he said. “One thing is tackling and reading our keys better.
“We just need to do our job really and play the sport that we love. We’ve really got to harp on that.”
Gordon, who finished with 104 rushing yards, said the Chargers are used to fighting back, fighting through tackles.
“We never fold,” Gordon said. “We never look back and think the game is over.”
It wasn’t over. And a large reason was because of the 49ers’ shoddy tackling.