In the minutes following the 49ers’ 37-34 overtime victory against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, coach Kyle Shanahan began laying the groundwork for the week ahead.
The 49ers control their own destiny for the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs, Shanahan informed the players in his postgame remarks inside Allegiant Stadium.
Then, he told them the No. 1 seed was still in play if the Philadelphia Eagles lose in Week 18 against the New York Giants.
“With both of those (seeds) up, that’s why I said it first thing to the guys in the locker room, so they know what the deal is this week,” Shanahan said.
The deal is that the 49ers will be no worse than the No. 2 seed in the NFC with a victory Sunday over the Arizona Cardinals at Levi’s Stadium.
“You always want to know what’s ahead of you,” Shanahan said. “I wanted those guys to enjoy the win, enjoy the ride home on the plane and also wanted to give them today off, give them I guess their first ‘Victory Monday.’ ”
The only times Shanahan gave the players Mondays off this season have been after long road trips or on short weeks that required a Tuesday practice. In a normal NFL week, Tuesday is a mandatory day off.
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Shanahan revealed why he believes giving players a day off on Monday typically does not make much sense.
“There’s nothing more important than what just happened in games and you got to review that stuff and get it fixed,” Shanahan said. “When you don’t do it on Monday, you end up doing it on Wednesday, kind of.
“You pass over it faster, and it ends up everyone has to stay twice as long on Wednesday.”
Shanahan said usually when players get days off on Mondays and Tuesdays, they are not as attentive about scrutinizing the previous game while they have started the process of preparing for the upcoming opponent.
Shanahan said many players will meet individually with their position coaches in efforts to correct the mistakes that were made throughout the 49ers’ closer-than-expected win over the Raiders.
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Then, the focus shifts to preparing to face the Cardinals, whom the 49ers beat 38-10 on Nov. 21 in Mexico City in the first meeting between the teams.
“We can’t have a let-up now,” Shanahan said. “We got a huge game this week. I know these guys will come in on Wednesday ready to go.
“We got finish this regular-season off the right way and make sure we’re playing our best football going into the playoffs.”