Shanahan on meltdown: ‘We need closers’
SANTA CLARA — The 49ers face the Raiders this week in a battle for Bay Area lagging rights.
But first the 49ers must recover from their latest unraveling, a 18-15 loss Sunday in which the previously hapless Arizona Cardinals scored 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.
With that collapse, Kyle Shanahan fell to 3-8 in games decided by three points or fewer since taking over as 49ers coach last season.
“When it comes down to the end we need to close people out,” Shanahan said Monday. “And we need closers to do that.”
This defeat, the 49ers’ sixth in a row, featured a doozy of a final play. With one last chance to get into field-goal range, backup center Erik Magnuson sailed a shotgun snap over quarterback C.J. Beathard, who had no choice but to rush a panicked heave toward a patch of empty turf.
Not exactly Joe Cool kind of stuff.
Add that miscue to a string of late-game breakdowns that leave the 49ers (1-7) heading into the lowdown of a showdown with the Raiders (1-6).
Shanahan lumped the Cardinals defeat in with previous losses this season to the Green Bay Packers and San Diego Chargers — games that seemed winnable if not for lapses at crunch time.
“Yeah, we’ve been dealt a tough hand with some of the injuries we’ve had and some of the things we’ve been going through,” the coach said, “but that doesn’t mean we should be 1-7.
“And in those games, we need to make a few different plays — I’m talking one to three plays. I still wouldn’t feel great about our record, but I’d feel a lot better than I do now.”
With injuries mounting, and the trade deadline looming, Shanahan indicated the roster could look different by the time the team hits the field again Thursday night at Levi’s Stadium. Against the Cardinals, three more notable players sustained injuries: safety Jaquiski Tartt (shoulder), safety Antone Exum (concussion) and inside linebacker Reuben Foster (hamstring).
Regarding trades, Shanahan has already confirmed that receiver Pierre Garcon’s name has come up in talks in advance of Tuesday’s deadline.
“No movement, but I know those guys (in the front office) are talking non-stop,” Shanahan said. “There’s motivation to improve our team in whatever way possible, whether that’s getting extra draft picks or whether that’s adding someone who can help us.”
The blown lead Sunday had echoes of the Green Bay loss in Week 6, both in terms of the 49ers’ inability to burn off the clock on offense and their inability to save the day on defense. In the Packers game, quarterback Aaron Rodgers orchestrated a comeback with 10 points over the final 2 minutes.
On Sunday, it was Cardinals rookie Josh Rosen (three touchdowns in his first four starts), who threw two touchdown passes in the final 11:06. The 49ers, under defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, failed to rattle Rosen.
Despite being under pressure on 45 percent of his dropbacks coming into the game, the 49ers pressured him on only 10 of 45 dropbacks (22 percent), according to Pro Football Focus.
Shanahan said the 49ers need to be better when it matters most.
“We can’t control what’s already happened but we can control what happens in the future,” he said. “I have to find a way as a coach to make sure I get our guys more prepared and better at those situations so they can make those plays when it counts in the fourth quarter.”