Why the 49ers Won't Pull the Starters if They're Winning Comfortably

One of the few things to nitpick about from the 49ers' dominant Week 1 win over the Steelers was the playing time of the starters.

San Francisco held a massive lead over Pittsburgh, which made it a perfect opportunity to sit some starters. Personally, I think the 49ers should have limited some snaps to certain players only, like Christian McCaffrey. The last thing the 49ers want to do is lose McCaffrey to injury when they are comfortably winning late in a game. It would cause much regret on their end.

However, that is never going to be the case for the 49ers. They would rather risk a player's health than the off chance of losing the lead. Playing the starters as if the lead is not there is how they conduct themselves. The reason for that is because Kyle Shanahan is scarred from the last time the 49ers sat a handful of starters.

It occurred back in 2021, coincidentally Week 1 on the road as well, against the Lions. The 49ers were winning 41-17 in the fourth quarter, then completely fell asleep by letting the Lions make it a one score game with one minute late. Ever since then, Shanahan refuses to consider sitting the starters no matter how massive of a lead they have.

"That was the biggest one that was like never again because I took a lot of people out and I still can't believe how that happened," explained Shanahan. "I've had to go back and keep watching it because it doesn't sound believable but it is. But to me in particular, I've seen things get out of hand and close. But nothing as scary as that Detroit one. But it's something I always watch around the league.

"We see it. Stuff happens fast and you just go three-and-out and that clock's different. When they went on that long we were trying to do it then, we thought we could stop on three and out and they went longer so it was different. But I don't have a specific one for you, but it's something you’ve got to be aware of.”

I can understand why Shanahan is paranoid about losing the lead given it happened two years ago. But this is why I advocate for simply limiting the playing time. McCaffrey received five carries and one target. While it isn't a whole lot relative to the entire game, Shanahan could have easily taken away some of those carries and given it to Elijah Mitchell. I don't see the point in continuing to run your star players like that in a game where the lead is substantial.

It's not worth the risk, but apparently to Shanahan it is.