Seahawks vs. 49ers: 5 questions about San Francisco with Niners Noise
By Lee Vowell
The Seahawks play the 49ers in week 13 in Seattle. To find out more about San Francisco, I asked five questions to Niners Noise.
Seattle has dominated the 49ers lately. In the last 12 games the teams have played, the Seahawks have won 11 of them. But these aren’t the same Seattle or San Francisco teams. Both teams are in the middle of a rebuild or “re-tool.”
To get more information about Seattle’s week 13 opponent and NFC West rival, I asked Peter Panacy of FanSided’s 49ers blog, Niners Noise, five questions about the professional football team in San Francisco.
Kyle Shanahan’s tenure with the 49ers
12th Man Rising: Clearly this was not the season San Francisco expected. A lot of the issues are due to injury. But how are the fans feeling about coach Kyle Shanahan this season and moving forward?
Peter Panacy: You have to filter out the too-common Twitter trolls and rants, although there’s a bit of a mixed bag when looking at Kyle Shanahan. There’s always going to be question marks about a former coordinator turned head coach until he is able to prove himself worthy of success at that level. And Shanahan has yet to showcase that.
Two things, though. First, Shanahan hasn’t exactly enjoyed a lot to work with, particularly on offense. Injuries have hurt, yes. But the roster overall remains far below the level needed to legitimately contend for a playoff berth or even reach .500. On top of that, and what I think gets overlooked a lot, is the fact Shanahan has kept the locker room together. Every account I’ve read and from the players I’ve spoken with have backed this up. A lot of scuffling teams struggle with that sort of thing, the Oakland Raiders being a prime example. The fact you’re not getting reports of disgruntled players from within the 49ers locker room says a lot.