The San Francisco 49ers' special teams, coupled with some subpar defensive play, significantly contributed to their loss against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. Despite an early 14-0 lead and appearing in control of the game, the special teams unit allowed a first down on a fake punt, shifting momentum in favor of the Rams.
Highlighting the issues on special teams, head coach Kyle Shanahan noted that the Rams' gamble didn't catch them off guard, saying after the game, "We were expecting a fake punt there, but we just have got to protect our edge."
The special teams group also permitted a critical return late in the game, which helped the Rams mount an impressive comeback and ultimately defeat the 49ers 27-24.
Special teams have been a long-standing problem for the 49ers and continue to plague them this season. On Monday, Shanahan addressed the ongoing woes in a conference call with reporters.
"I always love the special teams to help win, but my biggest thing is to not help lose, and it's not by making mistakes," Shanahan shared. "We had a bad one in Minnesota with the blocked punt, and then we had a bad one this week with giving up the fake punt. So, those are two things that we've got to shore up.
"I would always love to make plays and stuff on special teams, but the biggest thing is to not be one of the reasons that you lose. And those are two huge things, one in Minnesota, and then yesterday on that fake punt. That's stuff we've got to be more prepared for, first as coaches, and get our guys ready for that a lot better than we did yesterday."
When asked specifically about the big return by the Rams in the closing minutes, Shanahan explained the factors that contributed to that blunder.
"You'd love to be able to make the tackle at the gunner," Shanahan said. "I loved how I think Malik shot his guns, which slows the guy down a little bit. And you need a contained player on that play when he gets to the sidelines.
"There was a clip in the back, which would've negated him from getting to the sidelines. But once they did end up clipping us, he got to that edge, and our contained player, who was supposed to be there, was not there. He was sucked up in the middle and didn't get to that, which led to a huge play.
"That's coaching, that's playing, that's everything, but that's why it happened. We've got to make sure that we get a guy there because if they do get to the edge, however they get to the edge, you better have a guy in contain, and we didn't."