SANTA CLARA — The 49ers suffered another disappointing loss on Sunday that was riddled with self-inflicted setbacks. Brandon Aiyuk believes fixing these issues needs to start at practice.
The third-year receiver understandably was upset after the 44-23 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, especially considering the 49ers' skill players on both sides of the ball. The defense gave up over 500 yards of offense, but Aiyuk is looking inward at the offense.
“I just feel like we got too many people, too many people that can change the game to score 23 points,” Aiyuk said after the game. “People can ask about the defense, but at the end of the day we got to put up more points than the other team. That’s how I feel.”
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After a quick start at the beginning of the game, the 49ers offense found themselves with 10-0 lead. But the Chiefs battled back. The 49ers only were able to find the end zone one more time throughout the course of the game, and Aiyuk knows that was not enough.
With teammates like George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and now Christian McCaffrey, the 49ers offense should be moving up and down the field with much more ease than they have been. Instead, the 49ers racked up 10 penalties for 80 yards and stuttered when they had the ball.
“We got to cut down the penalties, mistakes,” Aiyuk said. “Every individual person has got to look at themselves and worry about what they got to do on each individual play. If we do that, I think we will be just fine. Until then, I don’t see the results changing.”
Coach Kyle Shanahan believes there is the necessary amount of accountability in the locker room but Aiyuk believes it could be taken even more seriously at practice.
San Francisco 49ers
“For the most part, The referees aren’t really throwing flags at practice We don’t go back 10 yards. It’s not 1st and 20 at practice. We don’t back them up at the one yard line at practice, or wherever we are at, and try to go out at practice, it’s just every individual play.”
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There clearly is a substantial amount of potential on the 49ers' offense that simply has not been realized for a full 60-minute game. Knowing what the group is capable of doing might make it even more frustrating for Aiyuk, who himself finished the game catching seven of his 11 targets for 82 yards.
“I just think it has to be a mindset,” Aiyuk said. “It has to be something that everyone is thinking about. Play in and play out, throughout the whole entire week because at halftime it’s too late."
The 49ers will go back to the drawing board to remedy their sloppy play before they head to Los Angeles to face division rival Rams.