SANTA CLARA – They got lambasted in Lambeau. There were no-shows in the Buffalo snow. Now, the 49ers are home, alone in last place. ‘Twas the nightmare before Christmas.
General manager John Lynch didn’t mince words when it came to what the 49ers (5-7) must do next, when they put their three-game losing streak up against the six-game skid of the Chicago Bears (4-7) in Sunday’s matinee at Levi’s Stadium.
“We’ve still got a lot of really good football players (who are) prideful, but you can’t get your ass kicked a couple of weeks in a row and not respond,” Lynch said Friday on KNBR 680-AM. “That’s what I fully expect, that we come out with a response that’s up to our standards.”
Coach Kyle Shanahan concurred, adding: “We’ve got to do some special things to get out of this hole we put ourself in and we understand that.”
Shanahan anticipated such adversity as far back as training camp, noting he didn’t feel the team was quite right but would improve as the season rolled.
“We didn’t take advantage of the easier part of our schedule, is what I’m saying, with those three games,” Shanahan said of the 49ers’ blowing fourth-quarter leads to all three NFC West foes.
Once the 49ers reached this past month’s travel grind, “we weren’t in a place to give ourselves some cushion,” Shanahan added, “because I thought we were wounded when we got to the harder part and that was a challenge we put ourself in.”
A bunched-up NFC West offers the 49ers hope. So do the Bears, who fired Matt Eberflus as coach after their Thanksgiving debacle in Detroit, thus making this game the debut under interim coach Thomas Brown.
Here are five ways for the 49ers to kick their losing streak:
1. AVOID CMC HANGOVER
The 49ers have lost Christian McCaffrey twice in one season to injuries. Jordan Mason, his breakout backup, is also done. With Elijah Mitchell’s season nixed before it started, the 49ers now turn to Isaac Guerendo, whom they traded up to draft in the fourth round because his speed, his upright style and his talents compared favorably to former 49ers stud Raheem Mostert.
“He reminds me a lot of Raheem, with how he runs –he’s upright a little bit — and then his speed. He’s a lot of fun to block for,” right tackle Colton McKivitz said. “He runs hard, runs physical and has breakaway speed when you need it.”
Guerendo started only once in six college seasons, and it came in his finale with a three-touchdown, 161-yard effort in Louisville’s bowl-game loss to USC. His previous start at running back before that was in fourth grade, after which he moved to wide receiver before reverting to running back at Wisconsin five years ago.
While new RB2 Patrick Taylor Jr. has 72 career carries (seven this season), Guerendo has scratched out 42 for 246 yards and two touchdowns, including a 15-yard run for the 49ers’ lone touchdown in Buffalo. He’s also fumbled twice on kick returns so ball security is a concern.
“I give credit to Coach T (running backs coach Bobby Turner) for just preparing everybody like they’re going to start the game, so when a moment like this does come, I’m ready for it,” Guerendo said.
2. STOP. THE. RUN.
Shanahan sounds outright disgusted when forced to rehash the past two defeats, and he promptly points to a run defense that allowed 125 yards by halftime in Green Bay and 141 yards in Buffalo. Each opponent ran for three touchdowns, meaning the 49ers know have allowed 19 rushing touchdowns this season, six off the franchise single-season record.
The Bears aren’t exactly bustling at running back. D’Andre Swift is questionable with a quadriceps injury that kept him out of back-to-back practices, and backup Roschon Johnson (concussion) is out, as is center Ryan Bates.
The 49ers are in no position to take anyone lightly. “It’s been so frustrating,” linebacker Fred Warner said, “because I know what it’s supposed to look like and that’s not it. Having played dominant defense here for so long, you know what it’s supposed to look like.”
It’s supposed to have defenders in the right spot, making the first-chance tackle. Instead, chaos has reigned.
3. SACK TIME
Caleb Williams may be making rookie strides, but he’s still been sacked 49 times. He likely won’t be Sunday by Nick Bosa, who is listed as doubtful to return from a two-game hiatus because of an oblique injury.
Tasked with leading the 49ers’ pass rush is Leonard Floyd, who’s been dependable but not anywhere near the dominant complement to Bosa they envisioned. Floyd (6 ½ sacks, 14 quarterback hits) is in the midst of a stretch where he’s facing all three of his former teams: the Bills, the Bears and the Rams, who come into Levi’s Stadium on Thursday night.
During the Bears’ six-game slide, Williams has been sacked 29 times (nine by New England) but he’s also had none of his 212 passes intercepted in that span. “He’s actually reading defenses and putting the ball where it needs to go,” Warner said. “He’s done a great job and obviously he has the legs to make things happen there. We’ve got to try to make his life hard on Sunday.”
Wide receiver D.J. Moore (quadriceps) is questionable, but the 49ers also must contain Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze and tight end Cole Kmet. Cornerback Deommodore Lenoir described them as “very crafty receivers,” then added, “It’s nothing we haven’t faced yet.”
4. REBOOT PURDY
Brock Purdy is aware of the urgency at which he must lead the 49ers out of this abyss. He is coming off a 94-yard outing (least total in a start he’s finished), and he is three weeks removed from a shoulder injury that kept him out of their loss at Green Bay.
“It hasn’t been woe is me,” Purdy said. “I’m like, ‘Dude, that’s the NFL, that’s life and that’s the challenge in front of us and what are we going to do about it?’ So it’s more of, as motivation for me and how am I going to answer this kind of stuff and how am I going to be there for my team when things aren’t always perfect?
“This is, I think, really where you see people for who they are,” Purdy added. “And so, that’s how I’m looking at it. And honestly, I’m excited for the challenge. I think I’m the guy for that.”
Purdy practiced in full all week, with Shanahan noting that the Week 12 rest was necessary for Purdy’s throwing shoulder “to make sure it healed, and we could see that it did at the end of last week.”
What they need to see is him throw more touchdowns to George Kittle, Jauan Jennings, maybe even Ricky Pearsall or, heck, Deebo Samuel. Purdy has 13 touchdown passes, after 31 last season. He’s had eight passes intercepted and he’s fumbled seven times (lost three).
5. COACHING FACTOR
The Bears hope to repeat history and cash in on an interim-coach bump. Over the past 10 seasons, teams are 13-11 in the debut of an interim coach, according to the Associated Press’ Josh Dubow.
If Brown is the Bears’ slump buster, it wouldn’t be shocking. Even Shanahan pointed out that the Bears past three losses came by a combined seven points, against their three NFC North rivals that are all assured of a winning record this season.
Because Shanahan’s team is mired in its own slump, he’s drawn increased scrutiny, even though his job security is not remotely in question. NBC Sports’ Mike Florio floated an idea of the Bears trading for Shanahan, but that seems illogical on many levels, including the Bears’ dubious history of going cheap rather pony up a massive contract then also unload massive draft capital.
John Lynch, Shanahan’s hand-picked general manager in 2017, made a stern defense of his partner. “I find the whole discussion on Kyle, some of that stuff, rather comical,” Lynch told KNBR 680-AM. “I mean, we have won four of the last five division championships. We have been to two Super Bowls. Look, the standard here is to win championships and we’ve fallen short of that, I understand.
“We have an excellent head coach and the fact that people are talking about stuff like that, I do find it comical. We’re 100 percent behind Kyle and what he brings to our organization and like I said, our focus is really on the Bears and doing everything we can. I know that’s where Kyle’s focus is and where our focus is.”
