After the San Francisco 49ers blew multiple opportunities and committed a season-high 11 penalties in a loss to the Miami Dolphins, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan made his message clear: his team did not deserve the win.
The 49ers’ slim playoff hopes were already crushed as the team was eliminated from playoff contention before Sunday’s game even kicked off. Shanahan still wasn’t happy with how the team responded.
“No matter what’s going on when you have penalties like that, you don’t deserve to win,” Shanahan said after the game.
Once the class of the NFC, the 49ers have let opportunity after opportunity slip away from them this season. That, mixed with an abundance of injuries resulted in their disappointing season.
During Sunday’s loss, the 49ers had multiple chances throughout the second half and fourth quarter to take the lead over Miami. Instead, they managed just one second-half touchdown. They missed a field goal, recorded at least four personal foul penalties, and quarterback Brock Purdy threw an interception that essentially sealed the Dolphins’ win.
“That’s my big frustration,” Shanahan said. “I understand when your backs are against the wall and you have an uphill battle. But when you’ve got first-and-goal at the two, and you make it third-and-goal at the 18 or whatever that is and you miss a kick, that’s completely something you’ve done on your own. It’s super frustrating. It makes it much harder.”
The 49ers have simply faded in big moments, and have not played with the ferocity on either side of the ball that they did when they went to three straight NFC Championship Games. They’ve let fourth quarter leads slip in games against the Los Angeles Rams, Arizona Cardinals, and Seattle Seahawks, and failed at chances to come back in matchups with the Minnesota Vikings, Rams, and again in Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins.
“It’s happened way too many times this year,” defensive end Nick Bosa said. “When it rains it pours… it’s very frustrating all around. Offense, defense, special teams.”
“Frustrating for sure,” tight end George Kittle said. “The penalties on offense all the pre-snap penalties, that’s just bad football. I don’t put that on coach Shanahan. I don’t put that on the wide receiver’s coach, the o-line coach, tight end’s coach, that’s on us.”
The 49ers will not have any stakes to play for in their final two games against the Detroit Lions and Arizona Cardinals, but they can show if any semblance of the fight those successful teams from 2021-23 had is remaining in them.
