Angry 49ers don’t have time for a quick-fix pity party

Angry 49ers have no time for a quick-action pity party originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SANTA CLARA – For better or worse, the 49ers don’t have time to dwell on another heartbreaking loss.

San Francisco’s 24-23 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium was the second loss in two weeks that the 49ers blew after leading by double digits in the fourth quarter.

And with the Thursday Night Football matchup against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field just four days away, the 49ers need to turn the page quickly to prepare for another NFC West divisional battle.

“Yeah, that’s all we talked about there,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game. “We would like to sit here and be angry, we would like to do something about what just happened, but we can’t. There’s nothing you can do about these games once they’re over. I’ll tell the boys.” The next time we can do something is Thursday and it’s better to just wait until Thursday than wait until next Sunday.

“It sucks, but we don’t have time to sit here and have a pity party,” left tackle Trent Williams said of Shanahan’s message to the team after the game. “We have another good football team and another division opponent and a short week, so we have to go.”

On the one hand, the quick turnaround, while stressful and incongruous for a disjointed 49ers team, could be a blessing in disguise as San Francisco is forced to shift its focus from the epic late-game collapse.

“The beauty of football is that while every loss hurts terribly, the beauty is that you can usually play the following week,” said tight end George Kittle. “And if you play on Thursday, you’ll put yourself in a hole if you think about it for a long time.”

“I think we need to start a new chapter here,” defensive end Nick Bosa added. “It’s pretty clear what happened and why we lost. I think it’s kind of a blessing that we’re playing on Thursday.”

On the other hand, turning the page quickly prevents the 49ers from fully analyzing their mistakes – of which there were many – and figuring out where they need to improve going forward.

“We had a quick game, a quick turnaround, it’s a unique situation,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “Of course you want to fix the problems that are happening out there. We won the game and gave it away, but you have to brush it off and move on to the next one. There’s really no time to sulk or feel sorry for yourself.” For yourself, you have to move on.

“I wish we had a whole week to clean up what we messed up (but) yeah, in the fact that you have another chance in about four days.”

The 49ers have all but about 12 hours to lick their wounds before it’s time to dust themselves off and prepare for Seattle. It’s not ideal, but it’s the reality of the NFL.

And how they react in four days will tell us a lot about what kind of team they are.