There were a number of reasons the San Francisco 49ers came up short against the Buffalo Bills Monday night, but being away from home didn't seem to be one of them.
The 49ers were thrown for a loop in late November when they received word they'd have to play their upcoming home games somewhere other than their home field of Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara due to a decision by Santa Clara County to put a temporary hold on contact sports because of COVID-19. The team later came to an agreement to play its next two home games at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, which is normally the home of the Arizona Cardinals.
The first of those games took place Monday when the 49ers "hosted" the Bills in their temporary home stadium. The Bills came out of the game with a convincing 34-24 win, in which the 49ers were dominated by a Bills offense led by 375 passing yards and four touchdowns from quarterback Josh Allen. It was a performance that seemed unexpected and out-of-sorts for the 49ers after playing so well on defense in a 23-20 road win over the Los Angeles Rams the week before, which may lead some to wonder if the change in scenery had an adverse impact.
"Absolutely zero," 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said following the game.
The announcement by Santa Clara County caught the 49ers by surprise last week, but the team was able to settle in quickly and go through preparations for the upcoming game against the Bills. Those preparations didn't turn into the type of performance the 49ers were hoping for, but the reasons for that didn't have anything to do with the team's surroundings.
"It was a lot of moving parts in a short amount of time, but I think this group is as mentally tough as anybody I've been around," linebacker Fred Warner said Monday. "We didn't flinch when we were told we were going to have to go to Arizona. I thought we had a great week of practice -- one of our best weeks honestly even with the change. We've just got to carry it over to (gameday)."
Next up for the 49ers will be a game in Arizona against the Washington Football Team on December 13. Washington proved earlier on Monday it'll present another formidable challenge for the 49ers after knocking off the previously undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers by the score of 23-17, so the 49ers will need to rebound and carry over what happens in practice to gameday. The confidence will be there to do that, despite what happened against the Bills.
"We felt good going (Monday)," linebacker Dre Greenlaw said. "Obviously there was some stuff outside that we couldn't control, but the stuff that we could control, which was our effort, our attitude, the way we look at things -- we just came to work every day. It showed in practice. Unfortunately we couldn't show it in the game tonight, but I've still got all the faith in the world in these guys and this coaching staff."
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