From Super Bowl to NFC West basement: What happened to 49ers? - ESPN

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Since coach Kyle Shanahan arrived in 2017, the San Francisco 49ers' night-before-the-game meetings have become a sacred space for established team leaders, former Niners greats, general manager John Lynch or Shanahan himself to deliver whatever message needed to get the team's collective mind right.

For the better part of the past five-plus years, whatever was said in those gatherings seemed to work. Since 2019, only two NFL teams have won more games (including playoffs) than the 49ers.

But on the heels of two of the worst losses of the Shanahan era — blowouts to the Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills by a combined 53 points — the 49ers were barely hanging on to playoff hopes last week.

Shanahan found himself ready to try anything to give his team a spark.

He called on quarterback Brock Purdy and cornerback Deommodore Lenoir, two of the team's core young leaders, to step into the motivational spotlight before Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears.

Purdy reminded the team that if you want to win, you can never take your foot off the gas. Lenoir implored teammates to scratch and claw on every play no matter the score.

«The message was, we need to play with more of a sense of urgency and play desperate because you just haven't really sensed that,» tight end George Kittle said. «When you're playing desperate and you're playing like, 'Hey, if we don't win this game, our season potentially is over,' that desperation fuels guys.»

After Shanahan also challenged his team to show the grit that had come to define it over the past half-decade, the 49ers looked the part again in their 38-13 win against the hapless Bears. In the locker room, receiver Jauan Jennings said it felt like they «were our old selves