After another deflating loss, the 49ers don't have any room left for error if San Francisco is to keep its 2024 NFL playoff hopes alive.
Coach Kyle Shanahan understands the sense of urgency the 49ers must play with over their final six games after falling to 5-6 following Sunday's 38-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
“Yeah, without a doubt. I think everyone knows," Shanahan told reporters on a conference call Monday when asked if every game left is viewed as a must win. "You’ve just got to look at it for a couple minutes to realize where we're at. It’s nice when you're one game out of first in your own division. So that does say a lot, especially being able to play two of those teams left of our six games.
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"But you also know, you look at the whole NFC picture and if you don't win the division, it's 10-7 not guaranteed to get in as a wild card by any means this year. So I think everyone understands completely outside and inside what the situation is."
Two weeks ago, San Francisco sat at 5-4 with a chance to significantly improve their standing in the NFC West. Shanahan explained how the 49ers' brutal last-minute loss to the Seattle Seahawks particularly stung.
"That's why that Seattle game was so tough of a loss and that's why last night was even worse," Shanahan said. "We know what we got ahead of us. We know exactly what that playoff situation is. That is what it is. But really all that matters is this week. When you do need to go on a run and put a lot of wins to even think of that, then you better make sure you're only thinking of one thing and that's Buffalo. And so, we've had to take care of a lot of stuff today. I’m hoping that guys will take care of their bodies stuff here over the day and a half they're away from us.
"We'll come back Wednesday fully understanding the situation we're in and coming back ready to fight because that's all we can do right now is just fight our butts off. And I'll be very surprised that not every guy in this building when I see them Wednesday isn't ready for that exact mindset that we're going to need to pull off what we feel we can.”
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Sunday's loss to the Packers dropped the 49ers to the NFC's No. 11 seed, creating a daunting path for San Francisco to reach the postseason.
Entering the 2024 season with championship aspirations, the 49ers' campaign has been a massive dissappointment thus far, particularly for a franchise that has reached at least the NFC Championship Game in four of the last five seasons.
With a difficult matchup against the Buffalo Bills looming, Shanahan and the 49ers must find a way to turn their season around, and do so quickly.