The 49ers' last two losses -- Sept. 22 to the Los Angeles Rams and Sunday's 24-23 defeat to the Arizona Cardinals -- very likely should have been wins, but in both cases, San Francisco coughed up double-digit leads.
After the 49ers blew a 13-point lead at home to the Cardinals, coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about the team's frustration level in the locker room.
"Extremely frustrated," Shanahan told reporters. "I think we had a 13-point [lead] and a [14-point lead] in the other. By no means should we be able to give that away. Always will come back to turnovers, in my opinion. There are other things you can do to overcome them. Talked about last night how we thought a key to this game would be turnovers and that's exactly what the first half was. Gave us a huge advantage and then it flipped in the second half and we need to do that stuff to win."
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Shanahan admits the 49ers are "extremely frustrated" after they squandered a double-digit fourth-quarter lead for the second time this season and lost pic.twitter.com/BCbtfNirK1
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) October 7, 2024
The 49ers now have blown two divisional games when leading by 10-plus points in the same season for the second time in the Super Bowl era, having also done it in 2020, per The Associated Press' Josh Dubow.
This is 2nd time in Super Bowl era that #49ers lost 2 division games after leading by 10+ points in same season. Also happened in 2020
— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) October 6, 2024
After the 49ers lost to the Rams, Dubow pointed out that Shanahan had lost five games as a coach when holding a 10-plus point lead in the fourth quarter. That number now is six following the loss to the Cardinals.
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San Francisco now sits at 2-3 with a quick turnaround before they face the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night at Lumen Field.
If 49ers can't bounce back against the Seahawks, Shanahan will have to find a word stronger than "extremely."