49ers Weekly Round-Up: Shanahan is On the Verge of Losing the Fan Base and Week 7 Studs and Duds
It happened. It finally happened.
The majority of the fan base, or at least the majority of the dedicated 49ers fans who were in attendance Sunday night against the Colts, have lost their patience with Kyle Shanahan.
I was one of those dedicated fans who sat in my seat in the pouring rain from start to finish. As the first half came to a close and Shanahan and the rest of the team were booed off the field, I oddly felt proud.
Proud that those who remain dedicated to this team through thick and thin, as shown by sitting through the ugliest game weather-wise in Levi’s Stadium history, put Shanahan and the under-performing squad in their place.
The San Francisco 49ers deserved every second of that shower, and I’m not talking about the rain. I’m talking about the boos, the yelling, the unanimous verbal exhaustion of this is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.
This is me speculating – Shanahan knows the pressure is on for the very first time. And to me, that is the absolute best part about it.
There is no more clinging on to the 2019 Super Bowl appearance. As each day goes on, that magical season looks more and more like a “perfect storm” outlier.
There is no more utilizing the rationale of “but he’s an offensive genius!” Everyone is catching on that you have to be much more than that to be a successful head coach in the NFL.
Shanahan has completely lost his touch and has been pushing all the wrong buttons. From his personnel decisions to going away from what’s working play-calling-wise, to challenging plays when there is absolutely nothing, and I mean NOTHING to challenge, he just looks like a lost, lost soul. Borderline hopeless. From the way he speaks to his body language, his demeanor does not scream out, “I have confidence I can turn this bad boy around.” It screams out, “I have no idea how to stop what’s going on.” Not ideal.
I have never felt more concerned with the team since Shanahan and Lynch took over than I do right now, and it appears a lot of the fan base is feeling the same way. It’s tough to fathom how it has come to this. This team is blatantly trending in the wrong direction. Eight weeks into the season, they are still stuck without an identity and are among the most penalized teams in the league.
It’ll be interesting to see how Shanahan and the team respond next week after being booed off the field by their fan base last week. A team as talented as the 49ers should – emphasis on should – be able to comfortably take care of a Chicago Bears team that’s in a similar boat.
If they don’t, things will get uglier than they already are. The fan base is slowly but surely turning on Shanahan. He’s getting criticized by local media more and more. He’s never been under this sort of pressure since he took over. We will find out a lot about him in the coming weeks.
As a fan, I genuinely hope he figures it out and starts pushing the right buttons and pulling the right strings. However, it’s hard to have faith in that happening as each day it seems like a more and more questionable decision is made, or rumor breaks out.
Sunday, it was the personnel decisions (such as a healthy scratch for Deommodore Lenoir), getting away from what was working, and the inexcusable challenge.
Monday, it was committing to Jimmy Garoppolo to start the game against the Bears.
Tuesday, a rumor broke that the 49ers’ turned down a second-round pick for Garoppolo from the Patriots during the 2021 draft.
Who know’s what it’ll be today (Wednesday).
The clock is ticking, Kyle. You have a job that more than 7.8 billion others don’t. Someone better is out there. Give me results, or give me the next head coach.
That’s coming from a fed-up 26-year-old 49er fan who has seen FOUR winning seasons since I was eight. This team needs to start prioritizing winning football games and stop making a living off the success from the 80s and 90s.
THERE IS SEEMINGLY NO URGENCY TO WIN.
Week Seven Recap and Studs and Duds:
Rewatching the 49ers game was more frustrating than watching it live. It is despicable that they did not enter halftime with a double-digit lead. Even more despicable that they went into halftime trailing.
Carson Wentz was horrible the entire first half. The 49ers just couldn’t capitalize, and that falls on the shoulders of Garoppolo and Shanahan. However, it goes well beyond the two of them as well. The secondary was awful. They committed way too many penalties and couldn’t catch the ball.
Wentz had a handful of turnover-worthy throws, and Emmanuel Moseley and Josh Norman dropped multiple interceptions. The offense put up only three points off the two turnovers they did force. Deebo Samuel’s fumble late in the second quarter was extremely costly.
They shot themselves in the foot again—a sign of a bad football team and a poorly coached football team.
This season must turn around for the better, or the 49ers will finish with a record worthy of a top-ten pick, but a pick no longer in their possession.
The more this team struggles, the more pressure there will be on Trey Lance.
Dud: The 49ers’ Secondary - Here are the names you need to know: Daniel Bullocks (safeties coach) and Cory Undlin (defensive pass game specialist and secondary coach). These are the coaches I’m assuming spend the most time with the team’s secondary players. The secondary has killed this team with their pass interference and holding calls all season. These two men must be held accountable.
Moseley, Norman, K’Waun Williams, and Jaquaski Tartt aren’t off the hook either. Every one of them was called for a deep pass interference call. That is a significant letdown from four veteran secondary players.
Stud: Elijah Mitchell - Mitchell is a good running back and is carving out a role for himself for years to come. Granted, the majority of his 107 rushing yards came on the team’s opening drive, but it is clear as day he will be a major asset for this team moving forward.
Mitchell finished the game with 18 carries for a career-high 107 yards and a touchdown. It was his second performance with more than 100 rushing yards and a touchdown in the same game this season.
Stud: Deebo Samuel - Sunday night was just another day in the office for Samuel. He posted a stat line of seven receptions (on 11 targets) for 100 yards and a touchdown. Samuel has had 93 receiving yards or more in four out of six games this year. He’s performing at a Pro Bowl level right now, and if he sustains this sort of production, he may even receive All-Pro honors.
Without a doubt, Samuel is the team MVP through six games.
He also showed off his explosiveness, as he returned two kicks for 60 yards. Samuel should remain the team’s kick returner.
Stud: Azeez Al-Shaair - Al-Shaair was highly active against the Colts, as he’s been all season. Al-Shaair recorded nine tackles and is now on pace for 125 tackles, which would match Fred Warner’s career-high. He has filled in admirably for the injured Dre Greenlaw and may even establish himself as the number two linebacker behind Warner for the rest of the year.
Dud: The Robbie Gould signing - I’m guilty of being an advocate of re-signing Gould. But in hindsight, it was a terrible decision. Joey Slye stepped right in and banged a 56-yard field goal in the pouring rain, something for sure Gould can no longer do. Slye might have made the stud list if it weren’t for a missed PAT, which led to the 49ers going for two later in the game.
What’s next?
The 49ers absolutely need to take care of business against a vulnerable Bears team that has lost two games in a row and has a point differential of negative 61. They rank dead last in total yards and third to last in points scored (14.4 points per game). This is a golden opportunity to take advantage of a “get right” game. If the 49ers win convincingly, it’ll temporarily quiet the outside noise. But if they lose, things will get ugly quickly.
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