The 49ers have blown out the likes of the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars this season, leaving one to wonder: How is San Francisco so well-prepared for the biggest games?
While speaking to reporters on Monday, coach Kyle Shanahan explained why the 49ers are ready to go when the lights are brightest.
“I think we’ve got a lot of guys with experience,” Shanahan said. “First of all, I think we’ve got a bunch of people who have been in a ton of big games. The way they carry themselves in the offseason or in OTAs and in training camp, to just week-in and week-out, how our practices are.
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“We’ve got a real good group of guys who football is very important to. So they're not guys that we’ve got to spend a lot of time motivating and asking them to do their job.”
Against the NFL’s best, the 49ers arguably have their strongest performances.
But Shanahan knows San Francisco’s comfortability on the biggest stages didn’t form overnight.
Instead, the 7th-year head coach detailed how the 49ers’ experiences as a unit over the last few years make the big games more manageable this season.
San Francisco 49ers
“They're guys who completely understand their situation, understand what their job is and understand the magnitude of each week,” Shanahan explained to reporters. “I think a lot of that comes from just the experience we've had over the last few years. I think people who come in here from new places or even rookies get that vibe pretty fast from the group.”
San Francisco has reached the NFC Championship Game three times over the last four seasons and competed in the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs in 2020.
At 9-3 during the 2023 NFL regular season, the 49ers are comfortable rising to the occasion.
After all, pressure makes diamonds, which San Francisco is on pace to compete for in February.