Coach Kyle Shanahan is the first to admit he is not impervious to mistakes.
Just before halftime of the 49ers’ 41-23 win over the Seattle Seahawks, Shanahan made a very questionable decision.
The 49ers' offense had just driven down the field, but stalled and settled for a field goal. With a two-point lead and 13 seconds left before the break, San Francisco's special-teams unit jogged out onto the field for a kickoff.
Instead of booting a normal kickoff deep into the end zone, Robbie Gould squib kicked the football. Seattle tight end Cody Parkinson picked it up at the 24-yard line and returned the ball 14 yards to the Seahawks' 38-yard line.
“Yes, I am involved,” Shanahan said via conference call Monday of the decision to squib kick. "I didn't like it. The process is when you squib kick it is to run out more time on the clock because when you get a touchback, no time gets taken off. But there's always a risk that they're going to stop it better than you anticipated.”
With time for only a play or two, the 49ers' defense needed to keep the Seahawks out of field-goal range. On first down, Seattle's Geno Smith scrambled for a 9-yard gain when San Francisco defensive back Jimmie Ward dove towards the quarterback as he was sliding into the grass.
Ward was flagged for unnecessary roughness, a 15-yard penalty which moved the Seahawks into field-goal range. Seattle kicker Jason Myers made the most of the opportunity and took a 17-16 lead by sailing a 56-yard field goal through the uprights as the first half expired.
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Instead of heading into the locker room with a lead, Shanahan and his team left the field trailing for the second time.
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“It ended up being a real bad decision, I thought,” Shanahan said. “I'd much rather have kicked it off and just got a touchback and let them play with 13 seconds a little farther back, because when we did that, I think they end up getting at the 35.
“They just need one mistake by us or one big play by them and they're in field-goal range, and we made the mistake by getting that personal foul.”
Luckily for Shanahan and the 49ers, the second half went much more according to plan. Rookie quarterback Brock Purdy and the offense put together a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to open up the second half, taking the lead that they would never relinquish.
It's fair to assume Shanahan has learned his lesson, and Gould will not be making another squib kick under the same circumstances any time in the near future.