49ERS Shanahan: It’s time to produce
The 49ers don’t just blow leads — they squander them in the same eerily specific way.
On Oct. 15, in a come-from-ahead loss in Green Bay, cornerback Jimmie Ward was injured in the fourth quarter, and his replacement, Greg Mabin, was in coverage on the game-winning touchdown pass.
Two weeks later, when they blew a 12-point, fourth-quarter lead in Arizona, their top two strong safeties were injured during the game, and thirdstringer Tyvis Powell was in coverage on the game-winning touchdown pass.
Then, on Monday, nickel cornerback K’Waun Williams exited with a shoulder injury late in the fourth quarter and … any guesses on what happened next? Two plays later, Williams’ replacement, rookie D.J. Reed, was in coverage on Eli Manning’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard with 53 seconds left in the 49ers’ 27-23 loss.
The pattern certainly speaks to a lack of quality secondary depth.
However, when asked about those instances Tuesday, head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke to a broader issue about his 2-8 team that has failed miserably in its attempt to overcome the loss of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
He noted, for example, that the 49ers’ lack of a pass rush hasn’t helped protect those backup defensive backs who have been pressed into service.
“I don’t like when guys have to do it alone,” Shanahan said. “You’ve got to step up in other situations. If you’re down to your second or third quarterback, yeah, I want those guys to come in and carry us and play well. I also want other positions to step it up.”
To Shanahan’s point: Even given the loss of their starting QB, the 49ers shouldn’t be in line for the No. 2 pick in the 2019 draft.
However, the 49ers have been worse than expected in many areas. They have the fewest takeaways (five) in the NFL, the fourth-most turnovers (20), have had two or fewer sacks in six games and their leading wide receiver, Pierre Garcon, ranks 98th in the NFL in catches (24).
On Tuesday afternoon, Shanahan indicated he delivered a pointed message in a team meeting earlier in the day before players departed for the bye week.
“I want them to sit there and really think of what their goals are” for the rest of the season, Shanahan said. “Do they want to solidify themselves as a starter? A backup? Do they want to be a part of it here? Do they want to be one of the answers or a solution to what we’re going through? … I want their actions to come back and show that.”
The takeaway: Garoppolo will be returning in 2019, but the 49ers will be using the final six games of 2018 to see who will be part of the supporting cast.
“I see better than I hear,” Shanahan said, “and I’ll always say that. A lot of the guys say the right things. I see our guys work and their actions show it, but we’ve got a stretch ahead of us that there is a lot of football left. And I feel we’re just getting started in finding out what our team is.”
Shanahan acknowledged some of the 49ers’ issues have been tied to their 2017 draft class, which appeared promising before the regular season began. However, several players — a group that includes defensive tackle Solomon Thomas, inside linebacker Reuben Foster, cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon and wide receiver Trent Taylor — have regressed or failed to take a step forward.
“I told our rookies — we had a lot of rookies finish the year last year on a really high note, and it gave us a lot of confidence in some of those guys coming into this year,” Shanahan said. “And some of those guys got better or worse in Week 1 and through this year. Some have gone the right direction. Some haven’t. Very well aware of that. And that’s stuff I’ll look into for these six games. Who is going to help lead us into next year?”