San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan might have cost his team a chance to win over the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 4, making some questionable clock-management calls at the tail end of the first half, which resulted in a three-point swing for L.A.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan should have tried to run out the clock at the end of the first half. His San Francisco 49ers were up 17-14 over the Los Angeles Chargers with just 47 seconds remaining and the ball before halftime.
But he didn't. And it resulted in a three-point sway favoring the Chargers, who'd go on to win 29-27. Those little things are the difference between a win and a loss.
Sure, the Chargers had timeouts left. But Shanahan electing to run the ball and force L.A. head coach Anthony Lynn to decide whether to use those timeouts, or just concede the half, would have been beneficial.
Instead, Shanahan called for three consecutive pass plays starting at the Niners' own 25-yard line. The first from quarterback C.J. Beathard fell incomplete and stopped the clock. Beathard's second pass was completed to running back Matt Breida for eight yards, but he was forced out of bounds and that stopped the clock. Then, with 34 seconds left in the half, Beathard's third pass of the drive fell incomplete and the clock stopped. Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin was hurt on the play, which would have stopped the clock within two minutes, forcing the 49ers to use a timeout. But they could have forced the Chargers to make that decision instead had the Niners gone with running plays instead.
What happened next is why clock management is so crucial in games.
On the ensuing punt and with 29 seconds left, Chargers return man Desmond King managed a 56-yard return to bring the ball to the San Francisco 32-yard line.
And that gave way to Chargers kicker Caleb Sturgis, who struggled on the day, converting on a 48-yard try to tie things up at 17 as time expired.
It's impossible to gauge what would have happened had the Niners run out the clock and gone into halftime with the three-point lead. Perhaps the game played out similarly to what eventually transpired in quarters three and four. But that three-point swing in favor of L.A. proved to be a major difference maker in the 49ers' two-point loss Sunday.
Shanahan will undoubtedly learn from this, also understanding his defense isn't good enough to preserve three-point leads against one of the better offenses in the NFL.
Still, that doesn't change the fact San Francisco lost by two points on a game marked by missed opportunities and chances. And that one decision proved costly.