SANTA CLARA
Cassius Marsh Jersey White , Calif. (AP) — When Kyle Shanahan was up for a head coaching job in the NFL two offseasons ago, he had one of his interviews in
a very familiar place.Shanahan met with Denver general manager John Elway for
about four hours to interview for a job his dad, Mike, held for 14 seasons,
helping Elway and the Broncos win a pair of Super Bowl titles.Elway ended up
giving the job to Vance Joseph in 2017 and Shanahan got hired by the San
Francisco 49ers instead in what he believes is a better spot to make his
imprint.“I’d like to say I made the decision pretty hard on them. I’d like to
think that,” Shanahan said. “I didn’t think I had much chance before. I
definitely am happy where I am, and I think it’s definitely a better situation
not being there with my dad. Also, that’s my wife’s home. That’s my home. I
enjoy going back there to visit, but I like living where I’m at.”Shanahan now
gets the chance to coach against the franchise he spent so much time around as a
kid when the 49ers (2-10) host the Broncos (6-6) on Sunday.Shanahan has plenty
of memories from his time in Denver, especially being the “cord boy” in Denver’s
1998 Super Bowl win over Green Bay when he held the cords for his father on the
sideline.“After that Green Bay Super Bowl, they went wireless the next year,”
Shanahan said. “I think they only won one more because they didn’t have as good
of a cord-holder, is what I always tell my dad.”Here are some other things to
watch:UNDRAFTED GEMSTwo of the three undrafted quarterbacks to start a game in
the NFL this season will square off on Sunday.Denver’s Case Keenum entered the
league as an undrafted free agent in Houston in 2012 and emerged as a top-flight
starter last year in Minnesota. He signed with the Broncos this year and has the
team in position for a playoff run.San Francisco’s Nick Mullens entered the
league last year as an undrafted free agent and was finally promoted from the
practice squad in September after Jimmy Garoppolo went down with a season-ending
knee injury in Week 3. Mullens has started four games and has the fifth-most
yards passing since the merger in his first four career games with 1,147.“Being
an undrafted guy, I’ve kind of, I guess you could say done some research on
different guys’ paths and how they’ve made it, how they’ve stuck around in the
NFL,” Mullens said. “He’s definitely a guy that I’ve looked at his path, see how
he’s gone. He’s a great quarterback.”UNDRAFTED GEMS PART 2Both teams will also
feature undrafted starting running backs as well. Denver’s Phillip Lindsay has
1
http://www.49erslockerroom.com/authentic-richard-sherman-jersey ,126 yards from scrimmage this season, joining Dominic Rhodes (1,328), Clark Gaines
(1,124) and LeGarrette Blount (1,021) as the only undrafted rookies to reach
1,000 yards from scrimmage.San Francisco’s Jeff Wilson gets his first start in
place of another undrafted gem, Matt Breida, who is out with an ankle injury.
Wilson rushed for 61 yards on 15 carries and caught eight passes for 73 yards in
his most extensive action last week and is familiar with Lindsay as another
undrafted player.“You know who the guys are,” Wilson said. “I know he’s a great
back. He’s one of the best ones to me.”INJURY BUGThe Broncos got a tough break
this week when leading receiver Emmanuel Sanders went down with a torn left
Achilles tendon in practice on Wednesday. Sanders led the team with 71 catches
for 868 yards and four touchdowns in a bounce-back year. His injury comes three
days after star cornerback Chris Harris Jr. broke his leg, leaving the Broncos
without seven starters from the opening-day lineup.“We can’t cry about it,”
Joseph said. “We have to move on and go play a football game on
Sunday.”SEARCHING FOR TAKEAWAYSThe 49ers are closing in on a record for
ineptitude when it comes to causing turnovers. Their five takeaways through 12
games are the fewest ever at this point in the season, lowering the previous
mark of seven by Jacksonville in 2016.San Francisco needs six takeaways in the
final four games to avoid setting the mark of 11 for fewest ever in a non-strike
season, last done by Chicago in 2016. SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Richard Sherman
wasn’t in a celebratory mood after his first win with the San Francisco
49ers.That’s what allowing two fourth-quarter touchdowns and needing a favorable
call by the officials just to avoid blowing a 17-point lead will do.“A win’s a
win but it feels like a loss,” Sherman said following San Francisco’s 30-27
victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday. “We played like crap down the stretch.
We have to execute down the stretch and play better. It’s a good lesson for a
young team that we needed. It’s a humbling lesson. Thank goodness we got a win
out of it.”The 49ers (1-1) broke out to a 30-13 lead behind two touchdown passes
from Jimmy Garoppolo and a 66-yard TD run by Matt Breida only to see most of it
evaporate on a pair of TD passes by Matthew Stafford in the fourth quarter for
the Lions (0-2).That’s when the biggest play happened with San Francisco facing
a third-and-2 near midfield. Garoppolo threw a quick out to Breida, but Tracy
Walker stepped in front and intercepted the pass, returning it to the San
Francisco 7.Quandre Diggs was called for holding George Kittle on the other side
of the field, giving the 49ers a reprieve.“I didn’t see it
Womens Tom Rathman Jersey , but it doesn’t matter,” Detroit coach Matt Patricia said. “That’s the way the game is being called all the way across the
board. We just can’t do it, make plays and then the penalties.”The 49ers managed
to run off more time and Stafford didn’t get the ball back until he had 1:08 to
go and the ball at his own 16. Detroit moved the ball to the 39 before three
straight incompletions led to a turnover on downs.But a 49ers team that was
happy to get any kind of win last year after an 0-9 start was far from
satisfied.“It’s a different mindset than last year,” Garoppolo said. “Last year
if we got a win, we were happy about it. Now, you kind of progress as a team. I
think our guys are growing and learning like that. When you have a chance like
we had to blow them out and take advantage of that stuff, we didn’t. It’s just
little things like that we need to clean up.”Here are some other takeaways from
the game:UNDER PRESSUREThe Lions managed to put heavy pressure on Garoppolo even
though top pass rusher Ezekiel Ansah missed the game with a shoulder injury.
Detroit finished with six sacks, including two apiece from Jarrad Davis and
Devon Kennard. Three of the sacks came in the red zone, forcing San Francisco
twice to settle for field goals.“I’ve got to get the ball out faster,” Garoppolo
said. “Help those guys out, make it easy, get our offense in to more of a rhythm
and just take what they’re giving me type of thing.”BREIDA’S DAYThe 49ers faced
questions at running back when Jerick McKinnon went down with a season-ending
knee injury a week before the start of the season. Breida showed he can handle
some of that load by rushing for 138 yards on 11 carries and catching three
passes for 21 yards. His TD run was San Francisco’s longest since Colin
Kaepernick had a 90-yarder against the Chargers on Dec. 20, 2014.“You have to
make the most of your opportunities,” Breida said.EJECTIONDetroit running back
LeGarrette Blount was ejected in the third quarter. Blount took exception to
Elijah Lee pushing Stafford as he stepped out of bounds. Blount was standing on
the sideline right in front of the play and went on the field and pushed Lee.
Blount was assessed a personal foul and ejected.“He knows better,” Patricia
said. “He knows that he can’t do that.”REPEAT RETURNSFor the second straight
week, the Lions allowed a long return in the kicking game. D.J. Reed’s 90-yard
kickoff return to start the second half set up San Francisco’s second TD of the
game. Last week, Andre Roberts scored on a 78-yard punt return for the
Jets.
