Undefeated 49ers arent buying their own hype after sloppy win

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 ju...