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SANTA CLARA — The first six weeks could not have gone better for Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers, at least in terms of wins (six) and losses (none). And yet, the resounding message after their Monday night win over the Commanders? Not good enough.
“There’s a lot of stuff we’ve got to clean up,” running back Christian McCaffrey said.
“We’ve just got to execute,” tight end George Kittle said, “and I don’t think we did.”
“Ultimately,” left tackle Trent Williams said, “we could’ve ended the game on our terms.”
Moments after pulling out a 23-17 win in primetime, the 49ers were already in full-on self-reflection mode. They weren’t satisfied to bask in their 6-0 record and stranglehold on the NFC West, up three games just six weeks into the season.
Nor should they.
Because while the 49ers’ perfect record may still be intact, their path to getting there hasn’t. They nearly blew a 23-3 lead against a quarterback who hadn’t won a game since Oct. 5, 2025.
McCaffrey coughed up the ball on the edge of the red zone. Kittle had a crucial drop. Mike Evans left injured and the passing game evaporated. Eddy Pineiro missed another extra point — his third in six weeks — and Jacob Cowing muffed his second punt in as many games.
The offense went three-and-out on three consecutive drives. The defense and special teams were flagged seven times in the second half while surrendering two touchdown drives.
But that’s what good teams do — Super Bowl-caliber teams.
They don’t take solace over how they hung on; they obsess over how it nearly got away.
And that’s the way Shanahan is wired.
“What year did we play Carolina there … 2022? We won the game by 30 points, and he called in half the offense for individual meetings,” Kittle said. The next week, they were handed a two-touchdown loss by the Falcons. “So, he wasn’t wrong, right?”
You can bet, then, Shanahan will have a bone or two to pick reviewing film from this one.
The 49ers moved the sticks just three times after halftime and didn’t pick up a single first down in the fourth quarter, though Shanahan said he didn’t believe Evans’ absence was the issue.
Still, the remaining receiving corps’ struggle to get any kind of separation and the resulting collapse of the rest of the offense should be a flashing red flag for general manager John Lynch.
The 49ers are too dependent on Evans and his Achilles tendinitis is too uncertain not to acquire some kind of insurance policy at wide receiver before the trade deadline.
Shanahan blamed the 49ers’ “frustrating” second-half struggles on the run game. He said Pineiro’s persistent problems with points after “can’t happen.” And he called out Cowing for making a “real bad decision” that backed the 49ers up inside their own 10, adding that his job status as the punt returner is “something that we’ve got to take a look at.”
“I know,” Kittle said, “that Kyle Shanahan will hammer that home pretty quickly.”
But here’s the thing: He probably doesn’t have to say a word.
In Year 10, Kittle is basically an extension of his coach. You could say the same about McCaffrey (Year 5), Williams (Year 7) and any number of Niners. Linebacker Fred Warner, one year behind Kittle, said, “I feel like I’ve been around Kyle for so long I’ve adapted his mindset.”
They’ve been 6-0 before, and they understand what it takes to get from here to SoFi Stadium in February.
In 2019, they rode their defense to their first Super Bowl appearance under Shanahan. A high-powered offense carried them on their next trip in 2023. This team has plenty in both departments, but what separates it apart is its experience and resilience.
Some of their flaws were exposed against the Commanders on Monday night.
But their immediate response showed off their ultimate strength.
“When you can win and not play your best, obviously it’s better than losing,” McCaffrey said. “But I know our standards are high. My standards are high. I can’t put the ball on the ground.”
“If we were playing a super efficient team, I think we lose that game pretty easily,” Kittle said. “We just can’t have that. We have more difficult games in our future. … There’s teams out there that will take advantage of us going three-and-out multiple times.”
The 49ers know they can’t let it happen again.
And that’s the best reason to believe that it won’t.