The San Francisco 49ers lost a close game to the Tennessee Titans on Thursday Night Football. The game ended after a heroic effort from Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill and kicker Randy Bullock, who nailed the game-winning kick. However, 49ers fans were left with a bad taste in their mouth due to missed opportunities from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and a controversial call from head coach Kyle Shanahan. Shanahan's call raised speculation about Garoppolo, to which the head coach responded.
“It’s just, there was 19 seconds. I didn’t want to lead to a turnover and give them a chance to get anything,” Shanahan said.
With a little over a minute remaining in the first half and a chance to score again on the Titans, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan elected to play it conservative and essentially ran the clock out, heading into the locker room with a 10-0 lead.
Shanahan's decision to play it safe seemed like it was him showing a lack of confidence in quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, but Shanahan denied that when asked.
Still, it's the way that Shanahan responded to this question about his decision. He said that he wasn't more aggressive because he didn't want the Titans to get a turnover. Earlier in the half, Garoppolo had squandered a long drive and a chance to extend the 49ers' lead to two touchdowns with a red-zone interception.
Shanahan clearly didn't want to risk that happening again with Garoppolo, who ended up throwing another bad interception later in the game.
The 49ers have been a surging team but they aren't going to get very far if Kyle Shanahan doesn't completely trust Jimmy Garoppolo.
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