The San Francisco 49ers are no longer undefeated in 2019.
This, after the Niners fell 27-24 in an overtime thriller on Monday Night Football to the Seattle Seahawks. And while there were plenty of mistakes by both sides, including turnovers and drops, head coach Kyle Shanahan still felt like his team battled.
"You're always disappointed when you don't win," Shanahan told reporters after the game. "Especially when you had a number of chances. I was very proud of our guys. I thought we competed very hard. Guys left it all out there. I know guys are hurting right now."
Speaking of being hurt, San Francisco entered the contest minus Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle, who was out with knee and ankle injuries, and kicker Robbie Gould, who was out with a quad injury. That forced rookie kicker Chase McLaughlin into a featured role. And while McLaughlin managed to connect on a game-tying field goal to send the prime-time bout into overtime, his subsequent miss was yet another failed chance to seal the victory.
Shanahan didn't have any other updates on some of the other injured players the 49ers lost in the game. Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders was ruled out with a ribs injury, and nose tackle D.J. Jones came out after suffering a groin injury, too. Later in the game, defensive end Ronald Blair made a nice tackle on Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, only to go down on the field, eventually needing assistance to walk off it.
Later on, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat's Grant Cohn reported Blair was walking on crutches. Sanders, meanwhile, will undergo an MRI on Tuesday.
The Niners defense kept the team in the game, yet there were more than enough offensive struggles, which included quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo getting sacked five times. Garoppolo was largely out of rhythm, particularly after Sanders' injury. And the 49ers offensive line looked shaky, too, despite getting starting tackles Joe Staley and Mike McGlinchey back from elongated injuries.
And then there were the drops.
"I think everyone on offense had their moments," Shanahan continued. "But no one was consistent enough. The [offensive line] gave us some decent time to throw, but we didn't always get guys open right away. And I think we struggled in the run game. That was pretty obvious."
San Francisco managed 302 yards of offense, yet its top-ranked rush attack gained only 87 yards on the ground and averaged 3.2 yards per carry.
The Niners will have a short week, where they hope to get healthy again and fix some notable glitches before taking on the Arizona Cardinals in Week 11.
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Written by:Peter Panacy has been writing about the 49ers since 2011 for outlets like Bleacher Report, Niner Noise, 49ers Webzone, and is occasionally heard as a guest on San Francisco's 95.7 FM The Game and the Niners' flagship station, KNBR 680. Feel free to follow him, or direct any inquiries to his Twitter account.
