By admin 
Kyle Shanahan was asked about the 49ers’ mentality now that they are 5-5 and have just a 29 percent chance of making the postseason. Here’s what Shanahan said courtesy of the 49ers’ PR department.
Q: You and president of football operations/general manager John Lynch have made it a point to bring in guys, self-starters, guys who love football, that you don’t have to pay as much attention to. I’m just curious about ten games in a season where things didn’t go the way anyone expected. Do you still see the same determination and confidence and enthusiasm that you need to see?
SHANAHAN: “What exactly are you asking?”
Q: I’m saying you have a team made up of self-starters who are used to high success. They haven’t had as much this year and I wonder: do you still see that same determination, confidence and enthusiasm at five-and-five?
SHANAHAN: “I’m still confused by your question. But I mean, yeah, we have guys who love football. Enthusiasm at five-and-five, it’s not the same as what our record was last year. But in terms of, I think you’re wondering, are you guys still working hard and playing hard and trying to get after it? Yes.”
Question: What was the general atmosphere in the building today?
SHANAHAN: “I think we were just mad about yesterday. That was a tough loss. We had every chance to win it, but we couldn’t. So I think the guys were disappointed and upset, but nothing, we all know each other pretty well here. We understand our expectations and we just had a good team meeting, talked some of the fourth quarter, looked at it all together and then we split our position meetings. But I think the guys are angry and ready to put that game behind us. Today is always a difficult day to deal with because of the frustration of what happened. And now I think our guys can’t wait to get to Green Bay as soon as possible.”
Q: I know you always say every game is different, but were there any commonalities running through the fourth quarter struggles? And how many plays did you discuss with the team during that meeting?
SHANAHAN: “When they took the lead 13 to 10 with three minutes to go in the third, the offense got the ball two more times and our defense got the ball two more times. So we just tackled both drives. The offense had two chances to take matters into its own hands, and we did so on one drive and not on the other. And the defense had two chances to take matters into their own hands and they did it on one drive, with a huge fourth down stop, that gave us the ball back. And then the foul didn’t happen within four minutes and then Seattle answered on that final drive. So we had two chances to do it and we were 50-50 behind it, just like them. And when you do that, it’s usually whoever has the ball last, and they did. And there were all these different plays, but those were the two problems.
Q: With nine penalties in the match, seven of which were fouls, was that something you discussed with the team? I mean, it seems unusual for what you’ve done this season.
SHANAHAN: “Yes, that was a huge thing. I thought this was one of the biggest problems for the offense of the day. And I actually thought we played a better game offensively than we did in that Thursday night game. We didn’t get, you know, in that Thursday night game we got the blown coverage on (WR) Deebo’s (Samuel) 70-yarder and we got those two explosive runs that really helped. But we played better football this game. We just weren’t having it at all with the penalties and you know, we had one 14-play drive where, I don’t know how many 14-play drives that I’ve been a part of that didn’t end with points or a missed field goal or a turnover. To make 14 plays and then score it, we had eight plays inside the 50 after that turnover for the field goal, where we had to overcome it a couple of times and get them again. So that was our biggest problem on the day when I felt offensive.”
Q: You’ve talked in the past that generally there’s every point in every season where it seems like the sky is falling and things look like hell and sometimes the sky falls and sometimes it’s just adversity that you eventually get out of must come. What have you learned from moments like this in your past, and what have you learned to apply?
SHANAHAN: “Just that the only thing that matters is what happens in those three and a half hours in a football match. And all you can do in those three and a half hours is focus on football and how to get better at it in practice in meetings. And everything outside of that, all the talking about it, all the pointing at other people trying to make up a story about it that has nothing to do with what exactly happens on the football field, is just going to make that all the more difficult. Those are the challenges, because guys know their job and they just have to do their job, and guys don’t always know what other people are responsible for and what they’re doing. That’s why you have to make sure you have tough people. who can focus on what their work really is and nothing more. And it gets harder when you have setbacks and things like that, when you don’t get as many W’s as you want. But no matter how difficult it gets, you always have to understand that it’s about the ball and you have to keep it about the ball and nothing else.”
Q: After playing three games where you lost the lead in the fourth quarter, do you feel like your team still has that killer instinct at the end of the game or is there some kind of Super Bowl hangover? ‘, or emotional hangover from the journey you have made so far?
SHANAHAN: “No, I hear that and I understand all the questions, but it’s back to my last answer. I don’t think there is an answer about a trip or a Super Bowl hangover. I think it’s about what happens in that exact game. The week before was almost the same game. I think we went 13 to 10 or something like that in the third. I think they came back and tied it up and we went down and won it on the last play. So I don’t think that means we had a killer instinct in that game and not in this game. In the fourth quarter they took a 13 to 10 lead. We went on a 14 play drive and scored a touchdown and overcame a lot of negative things on that drive and still took a 17 to 13 lead. Our defense held them down a fourth and one, I think with three and a half minutes to go. So I saw the killer instinct on both discs. And then we have to run out the clock on offense and we run three plays to get it there on second-and-11. We missed a throw and catch, which I think would have put us in the redzone and could have run out more time, possibly run out the clock, but we didn’t make that and then they put us on the last drive. So we have to play better during those last two stages. And that’s what it usually comes down to in football. If you don’t want it to get to that point, you’ll have to play pretty flawlessly to get a few scores before the end. But that’s why most games in this league end in the end and we did that against Tampa, but we didn’t do it this week.”
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