#icouldbewrong but I have a strong feeling that Thursday night will be a defining moment in the 2021 story of the San Francisco 49ers and quite possibly in the tenure of their head coach. Kyle Shanahan has yet another chance to begin to change the narrative around his ability to have his team ready and focused for big games. The Niners are rolling right now, winning five out of their last six games. However, the truth is, they've been here before.
A little over two weeks ago, Kyle Shanahan's team appeared to have put their underwhelming start to the season behind them. They were coming off of blow out wins over both the Rams (31-10) in week 10 and the Jaguars (30-10) in week 11, followed up with a closer than necessary win versus Minnesota in week 12, but a win is a win in the NFL and the 49ers were 6-5 with division rival Seattle next on the schedule. As we all know by now, the Niners looked ill prepared and unfocused from the onset when they allowed a fake punt to go for 73 yards to give Seattle an opening drive touchdown. The rest, as they say, is history. They continued to beat themselves in every way possible throughout that game. In losing 30-23, they were 3-10 on 3rd downs, committed 3 turnovers, and had TEN penalties for 86 yards. They had essentially lost all of the momentum they built up by losing to a banged-up team that they should have beaten. Kyle Shanahan had once again missed an opportunity to show that he can get his team to focus and execute at its highest ability when the moment calls for it.
So here we are again. The 49ers just beat an in-conference foe that is in the hunt for a playoff spot. Momentum is once again building with short week and a beat-up opponent on the horizon. Kyle Shanahan gets another chance to prove that he can close the deal. Which 49ers team will show up Thursday Night against the Tennessee Titans? Will it be the team that dismantled the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football? Or will it be the team that showed up and beat themselves with self-inflicted wounds against Indianapolis and twice against Seattle? As a full-fledged member of the Faithful, my heart wants to believe it will be the former. However, as a full-fledged member of the Faithful, my heart still has the scars from the first time Kyle Shanahan had a chance to prove he was capable of keeping his team locked in and closing the deal as head coach of the 49ers.
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