San Francisco 49ers defenders got chewed out by their defensive coordinator last week, and many of them felt it was deserved.
The 49ers advanced to Super Bowl LVIII thanks to a 17-point comeback against the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship Game, but San Francisco’s defense put them in the 24-7 hole — and the effort on that side of the ball was, in some cases, questionable.
Last week, 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks referred to his unit’s effort in that game as “unacceptable” and “embarrassing,” and his players didn’t disagree.
“That’s something that never needs to be coached,” 49ers safety Tashaun Gipson Sr. said on Tuesday, via ESPN.com. “That’s something that never needs to be addressed. … Obviously, everybody on that film can at some point on one of those plays point themselves out and said, ‘Man, I could have played with better effort on that.’
“…That film was hard (to watch). You had to see that and you had to hear some choice words, because that’s not our brand of football. We are a lot better football team than that. It’s nothing I’m worried about moving forward.”
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San Francisco linebacker Dre Greenlaw also understood why Wilks lashed out at the defense, and said that they’re using that uncomfortable session as fuel to turn in a better full-game effort against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.
“I think the most important thing is just how we felt about it as a team,” Greenlaw said. “I agree to the fullest extent. I felt like we could play harder, and I felt like I could play harder, too. So, you’ve got to look at yourself, too. That’s really what it boils down to.”
Two plays from that game stood out as being particularly egregious. The first was Jameson Williams‘ 42-yard TD run that opened the scoring. The second was Jahmyr Gibbs‘ 15-yard TD that put the 49ers down 21-7 five minutes before halftime. As many as five 49ers defenders had a chance to bring down Williams. And on Gibbs’ score, he broke three tackles — and Chase Young and other 49ers defenders appeared to give lackluster effort to try to get to him.
Young, a free agent this coming offseason, declined to elaborate on his lack of hustle to bring down Gibbs but did guarantee a better effort in the Super Bowl, per ESPN.com.
“The only thing we’re worried about is doing our job every play and preparing for this game the best we can,” Young said. “We have got to do better. You’re going to see it this game.”
The 49ers have had more than a week to let those disappointments marinate and realize how fortunate they are to have beaten the Lions, knowing a repeat won’t work against the Chiefs.
“For it to be on the biggest stage, obviously it’s magnified a little more,” Gipson said. “To be on that stage, that’s unacceptable. But like I said, it’s unacceptable to do it. We get paid too much money for the guys to go out there and put that type of effort on there, myself included.
“So, it’s just something that we just know that … that’s not our brand of football. It’s just one of those things that it bit us, but fortunate for us, we were able to overcome it and be here and be (on) a big stage right now.”
