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San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan knows exactly what went wrong in 2025. Yes, the injuries played a role in the team's ultimate failure in the NFC Divisional round, but Shanahan admitted that the defense needs to improve if the 49ers want to get back to the Super Bowl in 2026.
"I think we need to be better on defense all around," Shanahan said during an appearance on the Tom Tolbert Show. "We got fortunate last year, we didn't play a ton of quarterbacks. So I think that helped us not get as exposed.
"We went in a little light [in 2025], just because of losing guys in free agency and stuff. I knew we were going in light, but I didn’t know we would lose Nick Bosa and Fred Warner. Doing that made it really tough. I think Robert Saleh did a great job. I think our guys rose to the challenge and did a great job, but we weren’t good enough. And I think what we’ve done in free agency, what we’ve done in the draft, the guys that did get all this experience last year who are better now, bringing Raheem Morris, I think that will be the challenge, to be that much better."
And then on offense, we were an efficient offense, we were a top-five offense, but we need to make more plays. We need to be more explosive, this was the least amount of explosive plays that we’ve had in our tenure here. Especially in the run game, it was the worst we had done in the run game.”
San Francisco's typically stout defense finished 20th in yards allowed and 13th in points allowed this past season, so Shanahan's assessment is relatively correct in what went wrong. It didn't help, either, that the 49ers gave up 41 points to the Seattle Seahawks in the Divisional Round.
And now, heading into 2026, the 49ers defense should be better. Apart from getting back Bosa, Warner and other injured starters, the 49ers also made sure to add key players in free agency, the draft and through trades. They signed a few cornerbacks (Nate Hobbs and Jack Jones), traded for defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa and drafted edge rusher Romello Height in the third round and defensive tackle Gracen Halton.
There is more to building a championship-caliber team that fixing the defense, but the 49ers are on the right path when it comes to solving their biggest issue of the previous season.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Kyle Shanahan admits what 49ers must fix to get back to Super Bowl
Continue reading...
"I think we need to be better on defense all around," Shanahan said during an appearance on the Tom Tolbert Show. "We got fortunate last year, we didn't play a ton of quarterbacks. So I think that helped us not get as exposed.
"We went in a little light [in 2025], just because of losing guys in free agency and stuff. I knew we were going in light, but I didn’t know we would lose Nick Bosa and Fred Warner. Doing that made it really tough. I think Robert Saleh did a great job. I think our guys rose to the challenge and did a great job, but we weren’t good enough. And I think what we’ve done in free agency, what we’ve done in the draft, the guys that did get all this experience last year who are better now, bringing Raheem Morris, I think that will be the challenge, to be that much better."
And then on offense, we were an efficient offense, we were a top-five offense, but we need to make more plays. We need to be more explosive, this was the least amount of explosive plays that we’ve had in our tenure here. Especially in the run game, it was the worst we had done in the run game.”
San Francisco's typically stout defense finished 20th in yards allowed and 13th in points allowed this past season, so Shanahan's assessment is relatively correct in what went wrong. It didn't help, either, that the 49ers gave up 41 points to the Seattle Seahawks in the Divisional Round.
And now, heading into 2026, the 49ers defense should be better. Apart from getting back Bosa, Warner and other injured starters, the 49ers also made sure to add key players in free agency, the draft and through trades. They signed a few cornerbacks (Nate Hobbs and Jack Jones), traded for defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa and drafted edge rusher Romello Height in the third round and defensive tackle Gracen Halton.
There is more to building a championship-caliber team that fixing the defense, but the 49ers are on the right path when it comes to solving their biggest issue of the previous season.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Kyle Shanahan admits what 49ers must fix to get back to Super Bowl
Continue reading...
