January 19, 2026
Jimmy/for PhillyVoice
Kyle Shanahan and the Forty-Whiners had another season end in devastating fashion.
The second round of the NFL Playoffs is in the books, and only two teams remain alive in the NFC. We have two new obituaries, for the Chicago Bears; and the San Francisco 49ers, who as always would have won under perfect circumstances.
The 49ers lost in devastating fashion in the playoffs... again... and I know this is going to be hard for some of you to believe, but they felt like they would have won... "IF."
Niners CB Deommodore Lenoir, for example, said they would have won in a "landslide" if they didn't have injuries. Via @KNBR:
Lol. Bro. It was 41-6. Maybe just shut up.
For Trent Williams, pregame it was all corny boombox entrances. Postgame, Williams basically blamed the Niners' backups for being bad at football, and noted that a loss should've been expected.
The Niners' excuses are nothing new. In the leadup to their Week 18 game against the Seahawks, Kyle Shanahan complained about having to play on Saturday in the week leading up to their matchup against the Seahawks, despite being the home team, and having the added advantage of an extra day of rest before their first playoff game.
After losing to the Seahawks, Shanahan commented that Williams and Ricky Pearsall — who both missed the game with injuries — might have played if they had one more day to get ready.
You know who didn't complain? The Seahawks, who simply showed up on Saturday and beat the Niners' asses, as they would have done on Sunday, too.
Contrast Shanahan's bitching, with Texans HC DeMeco Ryans' approach to having to play on a short week:
If the pilot of the plane looks calm during turbulence, the passengers will perceive there's nothing wrong. If the pilot gets on the mic and wonders if the turbulence might lead to the plane crashing into the side of a mountain, well then the passengers are probably going to freak out a bit.
Shanahan is unquestionably a great offensive play designer. He's an offensive coordinator, and that's really all he should be. He's just a great enough offensive coordinator that he gets to be a head coach, too. But his game management sucks, and worse, he is not a leader, as he has a long history of blaming anything other than himself for losses.
Of course, he infamously bitched all offseason about not having a third quarterback available after the Eagles knocked Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson out of the NFC Championship Game following the 2022 season, prompting the NFL to pass the "emergency quarterback" rule, and then he subsequently chose to not even employ a third QB, lol.
And players took their cues from him, with Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, and even their kicker (lol), among plenty of others, making similar comments thereafter.
Following their loss to the Seahawks in the playoffs, Shanahan openly speculated that Seattle QB Sam Darnold had taken Toradol to ease his oblique injury, a common NFL practice for players trying to play through pain, but certainly not something he should be saying about an opposing player.
And even in the Niners' loss to the Seahawks, his play designs and general game management weren't exactly awesome. To begin, he kept sending out an injured McCaffrey onto the field in the fourth quarter of a blowout despite McCaffrey clearly in pain with a shoulder injury.
And also, one of the funniest calls of the season was when on 4th and 1 Shanahan called a handoff play to the fullback, running wide to the short side of the field, with the option to pitch it to McCaffrey, a play that had no chance of working against the Seahawks' uber-fast defense.
And what did Shanahan do after that play? He screamed at the officials because the Seahawks were granted a timeout (which replayed showed they called in time) on the previous play.
What's very funny is that the Niners' delusion doesn't just trickle down from the head coach to the players. It also drips down to some of their media.
I mean, the 49ers did win at Seattle when they did have their guys. And they didn’t even have all of them. No Aiyuk, Kittle hurt early and Purdy played over a half with turf toe https://t.co/AXwzjAqEOx
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) January 18, 2026
To begin, David Lombardi is the biggest homer in sports journalism. He'd make Hawk Harrelson blush. But also, guy, we're talking a game in Week 1?! I mean, again, THEY LOST 41-6!!! I don't think Nick Bosa and Fred Warner were good for 35 points.
Looking ahead, the Niners are going to be viewed as Super Bowl contenders next year because "they're going to get all their guys back from injury." Meh. Williams will be a year older, Brock Purdy will finally start to count for something against the cap, George Kittle likely won't be ready for the start of the 2026 season, and McCaffrey had 450 touches this season.
The Niners will face some kind of adversity, they won't overcome it, Shanahan will cry about it, his players will parrot his messaging, and we'll be right back here posting a similar obituary next season. Rinse, repeat.
When Caleb Williams dropped back to pass on 4th and 4, and then retreated some more, and then some more, and then some more, I said out loud to my mom and daughter, who were both rooting for the Bears, "It's over." But, nope.
It's too bad that Sean McVay's face at the 30 second mark of the above clip won't live on as a meme we can all enjoy for the rest of time. It just won't hit the same way since the Rams eventually won.
The Bears were a one of the most fun teams this season that I can ever remember, with about half of their games ending in wild fashion. Along the way, Williams proved to be an extremely talented player who can give the Bears a chance to win no matter how far out of games they may seem to be. He made heroic, impossible plays all season. If he can just consistently make the easy plays, watch out.
Typically, when teams win as many close games as the Bears did this season, you see a dropoff in win total the following season. The Commanders were a prime example of that this season. My guess is that the Bears will come back to earth a bit, but they won't have the moronic offseason that Washington did. I imagine they will instead continue to build around Williams with young guys who can grow with him on offense, and ideally find some playmakers on defense.
The Bears' 2025 season will be viewed as a major success by their fans, and with good reason, as they played relevant football in January for the first time in a long time. Hell, they won their first playoff game since the 2010 season. That alone must feel like a huge monkey off their back. And now they also have an exciting, potential superstar player to watch for the foreseeable future.
2) Rams (13-5): With 2:52 left in regulation and the Rams clinging to a 17-10 lead in Chicago, Sean McVay had a chance to all but end the game with one more first down.
On 1st down he ran it with Kyren Williams. Loss of 2. OK, fine. The Bears opted not to call a timeout and the clock ticked down to 2:13.
On 2nd down, I was certain they'd put the ball in the hands of the likely NFL MVP, and try to throw for a first down with the Bears packing the box. Nope. Another run to Williams. Gain of 2. The Bears then made what I thought was a big mistake, taking a timeout on the front side of the two-minute warning.
That set up a 3rd and 10 with 2:07 left, a clear spot to be aggressive and throw for the first down, since the clock is going to tick down to the two-minute warning anyway. But nope. McVay turtled. Another run with Williams. Gain of 3.
On 4th down the Rams shanked a 33-yard punt, giving the ball at midfield to a team that had like seven miraculous comebacks this season.
McVay put the game in the hands of his crappy special teams and his defense, instead of just trying to win the game with guys like Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua, and Davante Adams. He did not deserve to win that game.
Last week: 2
1) Seahawks (15-3): In the Week 18 game against the 49ers with the 1 seed on the line, the Seahawks' defense annihilated the Niners in Santa Clara, holding them to three points and one measly trip into the red zone. They were simply stronger, faster, and far more physical. They owned the Niners, thoroughly and convincingly.
The Seahawks' next opponent after beating the Niners was... the Niners again, who were fresh off a win in Philly and feeling themselves. This time the matchup was in Seattle, and it was more "belt to ass," but worse.
| 49ers offense | Week 18 in SF | NFCD in SEA | TOTAL |
| Points | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| Yards | 173 | 236 | 409 |
| First downs | 9 | 15 | 24 |
| Third down | 2-9 | 6-12 | 8-21 |
| Fourth down | 0-2 | 0-3 | 0-5 |
| Red zone | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 |
| Total plays run | 42 | 60 | 102 |
| Yards per play | 4.1 | 3.9 | 4.0 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Sacks | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Time of possession | 22:12 | 28:49 | 51:01 |
At the outset of the playoffs, there was some debate as to which team had the best defense in the NFL. Was it the Texans? The Eagles? The Broncos? Or these Seahawks. We'll see how the rest of the playoffs play out, but right now it's the Seahawks.
And oh by the way, they can run the ball, too. Last two games: 72 rushes, 355 yards, 4 TDs. This is a fun throwback team that wins with elite defense and a great rushing attack... kind of like some other team did a year ago.
Last week: 1
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader
