The San Francisco 49ers suffered a disappointing loss on Thursday night at Nissan Stadium, allowing the Tennessee Titans to claw their way back and escape with the 20-17 victory.
On Sunday, the 49ers were celebrating an impressive win. Four days later, the locker room mood is drastically more somber. Maybe "somber," isn't the right word to use.
"Frustrated, I would say," Garoppolo told reporters after the game. "I think it's a game we had an opportunity to go into their place, and we got off to a good start, got the lead like we wanted to, and we just hit a lull in the middle there. If we don't hit that lull, I think it's a totally different game, but that's football. Stuff happens."
San Francisco had won five of their last six games. The team hoped to finish the regular season on a strong note and surge into the playoffs. The Niners' postseason hopes remain alive, but the Week 16 defeat hurts their momentum.
The 49ers felt ready, despite the short week of preparation and traveling to Nashville, Tennessee. Unfortunately, the loss makes the trip home and the extra time off less enjoyable.
What did San Francisco's head coach tell his players after the game?
"I just told them there was a lot of things I was proud of with them," Kyle Shanahan said. "We thought we were going to come out ready to go. You could feel [that] with our team, and we did. I'm proud of a lot of those guys.
"We made a ton of plays today. Guys played very hard, and they gave it [their] all out there. But that doesn't guarantee anything. That allows you to be a good team, which I know we are. But you want to win the games, and you want to dictate stuff.
"You can't give other people a chance with some of those penalties we had and some of the turnovers we had."
Once again, the 49ers will try to turn things around and win the last two games of the season. First up will be the final home—a Week 17 matchup against the Houston Texans. Then San Francisco will close out the regular season on the road against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 18.
The loss to the Titans changes nothing when it comes to the team's mentality. There is still a lot of confidence in a locker room that believes the team can go far if they play at their best. Tight end George Kittle was asked about the team's confidence level heading into the final two-game stretch.
"It's damn high. I really believe in this team," Kittle said. "I think we have playmakers all over the field. I don't want to say it's a blessing in disguise, but we have our backs against the wall now. We have to win. And I think this is a group that's resilient.
"I think this is a group that's going to come back to work and grind really hard. We've got these three days. I always want to say flush it after 24 hours, but I might let this one boil up a little bit and get ready to go next week."
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