What Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy said about loss

The 49ers lost 29-17 at Miami on Sunday, but it had no impact on their playoff hopes as they were eliminated from postseason contention shortly before kickoff when Washington defeated Philadelphia.

Brock Purdy threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns and completed 26 of 40 attempts, but his fourth-quarter interception when he was hit by Calais Campbell ended a potential game-winning drive.

The Niners’ two leading rushers were not running backs, as Purdy rushed for 26 yards on four carries and Deebo Samuel ran four times for 25 yards. Patrick Taylor Jr., the starting running back who began the season as a fifth-stringer, had 24 yards on eight carries.

Samuel had a touchdown catch-and-run to increase his 96 yards on seven receptions, while George Kittle had eight catches for 106 yards. Tight end Eric Saubert also caught a touchdown, a 2-yarder that brought the 49ers within two points in the second half.

Eleven penalties for 90 yards and several serious injuries plagued the 49ers as linebackers Dre Greenlaw and Dee Winters went down along with offensive linemen Jaylon Moore and Aaron Banks.

Here’s what the 49ers had to say after the loss:

Kyle Shanahan

On Banks’ injury:

They thought it was most likely an MCL.

On whether there are concerns about Greenlaw’s calf:

It could be… He felt a tightness in his calf and when that happened we shut him down.

On elimination from the playoffs before kickoff:

I wasn’t aware of this, but it has nothing to do with the game.

On his message to the team after the game:

No matter what happens, if you get penalties like that, you don’t deserve to win. The biggest problem in attack was a lack of concentration. … You can’t commit three personal fouls in three drives in the second half and expect to win.

On Purdy’s interception:

It looked like he was going to put the ball over whoever had the nickel and when he threw it he was hit so he wasn’t able to do it.

Regarding penalties resulting in a missed field goal:

When you have the first-and-goal push and then you make it third and goal at the 18 or whatever it is and you miss a shot and that’s something you did on your own, then it’s that is very frustrating.

On his trust in kicker Jake Moody:

It wasn’t good out there to miss that kick. I don’t know exactly what happened on the snap and the hold, but he has to make it.

On whether returning to the stadium for Super Bowl LIV crossed his mind:

When I got into my coaches’ locker room, it did a little bit, but nothing related to the game or anything.

Brock Purdy

On the offensive performance:

Just not good enough. I felt like we hurt ourselves early in the game with some penalties and things, just plays that we missed.

When intercepting

I tried to pass it over the defender to Ricky and then I just got hit and couldn’t get enough on the ball that I really wanted and left it short and the guy got it.

On the year

It just wasn’t consistently clean football. I just feel like we’re hurting ourselves offensively. And then when the defense gets stopped, we have to go out and capitalize. Last year we did that really well the last couple of years and we played team football for four quarters and I just felt like we were pretty dominant. And so this year it was just a stroke of luck and the dynamic as a whole team, as a unit, was just fine.

On his attitude in light of the violations of the offense:

No matter who is out there, we have what it takes to win, move the chains, score points and give our team a chance to win. That’s my attitude. And that’s why I’m hard on myself. There were a few people who were broken and so on, and we didn’t get it done.

To meet Dan Marino:

We started warming up and he kind of came over and said, ‘Hey man, I just wanted to get to know you.’ Good luck and tell your dad I said hi.’ So that was really great.

To Kittle and Samuel:

Her character, her husband, her game with George and Deebo and her heart and her fight for our team and fair

Nick Bosa

Regarding the errors:

This has happened far too often this year and when it rains, it pours. It’s very frustrating all around – offense, defense, special teams. When you have so many penalties, it’s kind of a harbinger of defeat.

On Greenlaw’s injury:

I felt for him today and he really wanted to play the rest of the year. He’s an incredible player and I think sometimes we have to protect him from himself because he perseveres through everything. Sometimes when you go through an injury like that and you’re not ready, I think the best thing for him would be to take it as slowly as possible.

What they learned from this bad year:

We’ve learned that this league is very tough and we’ve been at the top for a long time and sometimes things don’t go the way we want them to and of course that’s largely because of what we’ve done. I just have to appreciate playing this game. I don’t think I’ve played a game where we didn’t really have a chance in the playoffs, so the feeling was different.

On the question of who really wants to be a 49er, as he said last week, they would learn:

It’s very, very obvious that the guys who want to be here play really hard and will continue to do so. I’m not questioning anyone on this team, but we’ll definitely be tested in the next few weeks.

Whether he needs to rest because of his injuries:

No, I’m fine. The slash was brutal, but it’s nothing alarming.

George Kittle

Regarding the frustration after this game:

It’s just bad football, and I don’t blame that on coach Shanahan, I don’t blame that on our wide receivers coach and line coach, tight ends coach, that’s on us. We know the formations, we have to go out and execute them. I screwed one up.

On returning to Hard Rock Stadium after Super Bowl LIV:

Are you asking me if I have post-traumatic stress disorder because of this game? No, I had a great time tonight, minus the penalties and all that. Great stadium, great atmosphere, good field. Aside from the outcome of the game, I had fun out there bumbling and tumbling all the way across the field.

On elimination from the playoffs:

Even though we’re eliminated, we still have two weeks of football left, and you know, when I have football in front of me, I’m going to play as hard as I can and try to get the guys around me to do the same.

When exceeding the 1,000 yard mark:

I set myself goals before the season. 1,000 yards is one of those goals. You know, I’d rather be in the playoffs, but getting 1,000 yards is good.

Fred Warner

In defense:

We did some things well, some things we didn’t do well. Penalties killed us because we didn’t take the ball away. One takeaway in the last five games is simply not enough. I challenged the defense at halftime and said we had to take the ball away to win the game and we didn’t do that and I blamed it on myself.

On Greenlaw’s demise:

We see the difference from the last game when he was out there, right? That’s my type. I love going out there to fight him, but at the end of the day sometimes it’s about saving Dre from himself. He’s recovering from a serious injury and everyone looks at the last game and how great he was and it feels like it’s not normal. He’s dealing with something important and sometimes we just have to protect him from himself.

On Greenlaw’s mood:

He’s on the ground. Dre is built right – he wants to help us win games.

On the team’s energy after he and Bosa mentioned that the rest of the season would be a test:

We came out with the right intention. I think overall everyone agreed that we were going to come out, we wanted to set the tone early, but I mean, it’s a four-quarter football game. This rah-rah stuff only lasts so long. You have to play on task, execute at a high level and at the end of the day I look at the defense and just continue to look at the learnings as a difference. If we don’t take the ball away, it will be difficult to win.

Originally published: December 22, 2024 at 5:18 pm PST