Kyle Shanahan explains his 'strategic' penalty in the 49ers' blowout of Jaguars
The San Francisco 49ers saw a score chalked off in their 34-3 rout of the Jacksonville Jaguars following an utterly bizarre third-quarter sequence, but Kyle Shanahan had an explanation. Ambry Thomas went 92 yards on a fumble return after jarring the ball from Christian Kirk's grasp on the San Francisco six-yard line to seemingly put […]
The San Francisco 49ers saw a score chalked off in their 34-3 rout of the Jacksonville Jaguars following an utterly bizarre third-quarter sequence, but Kyle Shanahan had an explanation.
Ambry Thomas went 92 yards on a fumble return after jarring the ball from Christian Kirk's grasp on the San Francisco six-yard line to seemingly put the Niners up 26-3, only to see the return wiped away as multiple members of the San Francisco sideline, including their head coach Shanahan, stray onto the field.
San Francisco was instead given the ball on its own 19-yard line, but it mattered not as the 49ers went 81 yards on seven plays to go up 24 points on a 23-yard touchdown run from Deebo Samuel.
Having seen his offense fail to cash in on two earlier turnovers, Shanahan explained with a smile that his apparent mistake was, in fact, entirely on purpose.
"When we get the third turnover we actually score on defense but then we get the penalty, that was strategic so we could let the offense do it," Shanahan told his post-game press conference.
Obviously, that is not the truth, and Shanahan later clarified how he and a bunch of players came to be on the field as Thomas surged down the sideline.
"I would have been mad at whoever did it," Shanahan said when asked if he would have called it "strategic" had he not been an offender.
"I thought the play was over. I couldn't see and then everyone jumped up and so when that happens you're getting out there to start to congratulate people coming back and, they're not coming back to congratulate, they're running back at us.
"We know the rule, we know you can't go on the field, I personally thought the play was over, they ran right by us and it was very unfortunate. It was a good learning experience for our team, we do show that stuff and it was short-lived because we ended up scoring, good learning experience for us."
Had the mistake been more costly, Shanahan might not have seen the funny side. Instead, the 49ers can have a laugh at their coach's expense when they review the film on Monday.
Grading the eight 49ers to watch in Week 10 at Jaguars
Most got very high marks.
