The San Francisco 49ers are the NFC West champions. They clinched the division crown with last week's win over the Seattle Seahawks, securing at least one home game to kick off their playoff run. The Niners currently own the No. 3 seed but are within reach of the No. 2 seed, assuming they keep winning and the Minnesota Vikings stumble.
Keep winning, and everything else will figure itself out. That's the 49ers' philosophy. You can only control what's on your schedule, after all. With the team guaranteed to own at least the No. 3 seed, what is head coach Kyle Shanahan's philosophy regarding resting his players and making sure his team is as fresh and healthy as possible for postseason play?
On Wednesday, Shanahan joined KNBR's Tolbert & Copes show, admitting that securing the division with three games left is somewhat of a new situation for him. The 49ers are used to battling it out until the end. In 2019, San Francisco didn't win the NFC West until the closing seconds of the last game of the season. Last year, they made the playoffs with a Week 18 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
"Honestly, every game we've been here has felt like that," Shanahan admitted during the radio interview. "This is the first time that we know we're in the playoffs. Even in our Super Bowl year (2019 season), when we started 8-0, it took until the last play of the game versus Seattle to know we had won the division. So it's a little different knowing that we've already won the division, but there's so much more to play for."
Shanahan acknowledged that players on teams still fighting for playoff spots are willing to risk their availability in upcoming games just to play now. For the 49ers, that sense of urgency isn't the same. They won't risk anyone's future availability to fight to win the upcoming game. At least four more games are guaranteed for Shanahan's squad.
Then the coach dove into the experiences of some past coaches to explain how things can go terribly wrong if you opt to shelve key starters until the playoffs.
"I could totally understand it if we were playing a seven-game series, but I can't understand it for a three-and-a-half-hour event," Shanahan said. "And it's only one shot, and just in my experience over the years, guys that have gotten hurt at the end that we've rested, or that have been on IR, you bring back for the playoffs, those are usually the guys that hurt you at first because they're just rusty and they haven't done much.
"I've watched, just talking to guys. Lynch talking to Tony Dungy last week, they used to do this with [QB] Peyton [Manning] all the time. He said some of the biggest mistakes—when they rested, their guys struggled."
Shanahan also remembers a decision by his father, former Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan, that cost Denver in the playoffs.
"I know watching my dad, and I think it was '95, they were 13-3, clinched the division, rested their players for three weeks, and they opened up the playoffs versus Jacksonville, who was a second-year expansion team, and they lost," Shanahan shared. "I think it was 30-27, and that was maybe their best team. They went on to win the Super Bowl the next two years, but I still believe they should have had three in a row, and I think it goes all the way back to resting the players."
Still, that doesn't mean the 49ers aren't going to be careful. They want to be at full strength when they open their postseason at Levi's Stadium. Players like ailing wide receiver Deebo Samuel (ankle, knee) aren't going to be forced into action for games with little impact.
"We're not going to do anything stupid, but it's different," Shanahan said. "We've got to play each week. One, it does mean a lot. It'd be great to get that one seed. There's still a chance, but it would be great to get that two seed. If not, we're gonna fight for it all, and at least, worst-case scenario, we're sitting here at the three [seed]."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.