First Matt Eberflus, now Kyle Shanahan.
A sign that you are winning? Everyone else complains about you.
It started with Matt Eberflus last week, who blamed the Green Bay Packers for an uncalled penalty on the game-winning blocked field goal. The NFL had no problem with it, and it seems like Eberflus spent the entire week complaining rather than finding a fix because the Chicago Bears had another kick blocked in Week 12.
This week, it was Kyle Shanahan’s turn.
We’ll admit, this didn’t have the same Eberflus I’m-going-to-send-this-to-the-league-office energy, but it was a funny moment nonetheless.
San Francisco got caught with 12 players on the field two plays in a row. How is that even possible? Jordan Love quickly snapped the ball the first time, but the Packers also had an illegal shift, offsetting both penalties and causing the play to be restarted. Even with a chance to reset, the 49ers then had an extra defender on the field again on the next play.
It was an embarrassing moment for Shanahan, but he wasn’t willing to take full accountability.
Kyle Shanahan believes Packers’ ‘strategic’ play shouldn’t have been allowed
The 49ers’ head coach believes the Packers intentionally tried to catch the Niners with 12 players on the field and that the refs should’ve allowed them time to sub.
“It was a strategic play by them, but one that I don’t feel should be allowed. They didn’t give us time to sub on that. That’s why I was upset,” said Shanahan. “The next one, because they got away with it the first time, they tried to do it again the next play. That’s why I went out there arguing.”
“This time they did allow us to sub. I was out there screaming the whole time, so I’m not exactly aware of what happened with our 12 guys. But obviously we had 12 guys out there, they gave us time to sub, and we didn’t get one off. So the second one was on us.”
OK, let’s break that down.
Shanahan believes the officials didn’t give the Niners enough time to sub on the first one. Like Eberflus last week, he may have a point. But that play didn’t count due to offsetting penalties. The fact he admitted to still screaming on the next play is hilarious, especially as he didn’t realize his team had 12 players on the field again.
It sure felt odd watching the TV broadcast. The 49ers got caught with 12 players on defense, which is about as easy and indisputable a penalty as there is. The cameras then cut to Shanahan, who was screaming at an official. It made no sense. Turns out, he was still annoyed by the previous play.
There’s no excuse for that. When your team has 12 players on the field on consecutive plays, it might be best to say nothing at all.