The San Francisco 49ers are one of two remaining unbeaten teams in the NFL, but Kyle Shanahan hasn’t forgotten the four turmoil-filled seasons he spent in Washington.
Shanahan returns to the nation’s capital as a head coach for the second time when the 49ers visit the Redskins on Sunday, and he took a not-so-thinly-veiled shot at his old organization on Wednesday.
Shanahan served as offensive coordinator under his father Mike from 2010-13 when Washington went 24-40. The Shanahans were fired after a 3-13 campaign in 2013, and neither is fond of Redskins owner Daniel Snyder.
Asked by reporters this week about the best part of working in Washington, Shanahan had a quick answer: “Being able to work with my dad and be around some other good coaches.”
The follow-up question was, “What’s the worst part?”
“Everything else,” Shanahan said.
In other words, Shanahan is highly motivated to make sure the 49ers (5-0) put on a strong performance against the Redskins (1-5), who picked up their lone victory last Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.
Shanahan is also working to make sure he doesn’t get sidetracked by personal grievances. Along those same lines is not allowing the strong start — the New England Patriots are the only other unbeaten squad — to cause his team to rest on its laurels.
“It’s been definitely more fun this year than the last two years,” said Shanahan, referring to the 49ers’ combined 10-22 mark over his first two seasons. “I’ve also been in this long enough (that) I’m not celebrating anything yet. We’re 5-0, it’s very early … 5-0 doesn’t guarantee anything. We’ve got a tough division, got a tough schedule ahead of us.”
Washington isn’t one of the hardest foes on the slate, but the Redskins are feeling a little life after the 17-16 win over the Dolphins in interim coach Bill Callahan’ first game at the helm.
Jay Gruden was fired after a 0-5 start that included four consecutive double-digit losses. Callahan immediately made the running game more of a priority, and that was just fine with veteran running back Adrian Peterson.
Peterson rushed for a season-best 118 yards on 23 carries against Miami for his 55th career 100-yard rushing effort. The 34-year-old entered the contest with just 108 yards on 40 carries.
“It felt good to get into a groove and pick up first downs to keep the chains moving as an offense and to be a big part of that in the running game,” Peterson told reporters. “The guys up front, they did an incredible job. … I think we all needed this.”
It remains to be seen if Peterson can be as effective against San Francisco, which ranks sixth in the NFL in rushing defense at 87.2 yards per game. The 49ers also rank second in total defense (237.4 yards per game) and scoring defense (12.8 points per game) and lead the league in passing defense (150.2 yards per game).
Callahan, whose team ranks 30th in scoring offense (15.0 points per game) and 28th in total offense (286.5 yards per game), is aware moving the ball will be a challenge.
“At the end of the day, it’s getting on the board and it is winning by any means necessary,” Callahan said. “We’ll do whatever we need to do. Of course we want to establish the run and we want to keep that identity just like everybody else around the league, but they’re good, they’re a really good challenge for our football team.”
The San Francisco offense has been clicking all season and ranks third in scoring offense (29.4 points per game) and fourth in total offense (408.0 yards per game).
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is completing 69.9 percent of his passes for 1,163 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions.
Garoppolo, who has an 11-2 starting record with the 49ers, dismisses the chatter that Sunday will be an easy victory for his team.
“They are still an NFL team,” Garoppolo said. “They’ve got good players on both sides of the ball, good coaches that are going to game plan for us and they’re coming off their first win. Obviously, they have a little bit of juice with them and everything, so it will be a good test for us on Sunday, though a long trip out there, and just have to go handle business out there.”
The Redskins prevailed 26-24 in 2017 in Shanahan’s previous return to Washington.
