SANTA CLARA — One thing coach Kyle Shanahan deserves credit for is transparency about his feelings. He is notably prickly after a loss, and jubilant after a win. Shanahan is also consistently even tempered when he speaks to the media the day after a game.
For Shanahan, watching film always makes the bad seem not quite so horrific and the good, far from perfect. It keeps him from losing the focus of the bigger picture.
“Losing sucks,” Shanahan said. “Everyone knows that. Every time after a game, I’m not very positive. You put a lot into a game and when you lose, it hurts.
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SIGN UP HERE "You usually go to bed Sunday night and never fall asleep completely because you’re thinking about a lot of things. You wake up upset Monday, but you go watch the tape a number of times and you start to have more perspective.”
This was particularly important for Shanahan after the 49ers 27-9 loss to the Buccaneers. There was not much that went right for the team in any phase of the game.
“Tampa was doom and gloom,” Shanahan said. “I felt that way Sunday, I felt that way Monday morning. But then, I watched the tape and it was a lot more simple than that.”
Quarterback Nick Mullens explained that watching film definitely gives him perspective was well.
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“We just never got on a rhythm,” Mullens said. “But, you watch the film and you see where you can improve and that’s why we’re so excited about this week. We get to come back, go to work today and be very productive and that way we’re executing at our best on Sunday.”
Shanahan noted that the week off, while it helped players get a bit healthier, it also caused them to get a little rusty. He added that while some of the team’s best players had good games, they didn’t play as good as they have been. Again, the film doesn’t lie.
“So, you don’t try to freak out and overreact about that,” Shanahan said. “You try to tell your guys, ‘Guys, look at the tape. We didn’t play very well.’ We’ve got to be at our best and if we are at our best, we’ll have a chance to win. I think we have done that in almost every game this year.”
Shanahan did say that there were a few examples of when the team has not been up to par and left themselves without a chance to win.
“I’d take back the Rams,” Shanahan said. “I don’t think we were. Definitely the first half of the Chiefs game, we made it close towards the end. Then I’d say in Tampa. Every other game, I feel we’ve had a very good chance to win that game in the fourth quarter and that’s what we haven’t done a good job of and that’s what we’ve got to find a way to improve.”
The 49ers have given up a fourth quarter lead a whopping four times this season. Shanahan notes that their Week 13 opponent, the Seahawks, have been on the flip side of that coin.
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“That’s why I kind of compare that with Seattle,” Shanahan said. “They’ve been in very similar situations to that. All of those games, they’ve been close in, they’ve won the majority of those. That’s why there’s a big difference between, I think it’s 6-5 and 2-9.
“So, it’s a fine line. You try not to freak out, but it is tough. You get sick of losing, you want to fix things and that’s why we go at it hard and just try to make the right decision and not just the one over emotion.”