49ers’ fourth-quarter collapses becoming a theme in 2018

The San Francisco 49ers coughed up yet another fourth-quarter loss in 2018, losing in heart-breaking fashion to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8. It’s officially a trend for head coach Kyle Shanahan.

It’s becoming a thing — the San Francisco 49ers aren’t good in the fourth quarter.

At 1-7, they’re not good in a lot of areas. But the final regulation frame hasn’t been kind to head coach Kyle Shanahan and Co.

Let’s recap for a moment. The Niners had a late lead heading into the final moments of the fourth quarter, only to watch their opponents engineer a promising offensive drive en route to taking a late lead and adding yet another loss to San Francisco’s 2018 record.

Was this the case during the 49ers’ 18-15 Week 8 loss to the Arizona Cardinals? Yes. Was it the case on Monday Night Football against quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers two weeks earlier? Absolutely. And it was also the case in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers too.

Last Sunday, the Niners carried a 15-3 lead over a rookie quarterback, Josh Rosen, and a Cardinals squad that struggled to move the ball on the ground and through the air. Yet Arizona mustered 15 unanswered points in the final quarter to pull off the stunning victory.

Rodgers’ magic in Week 6 spoke for itself, and Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers managed to get his team into field-goal range, which proved to be the difference that week.

So, yes. The fourth quarter is officially a problem for San Francisco.

Take a look at the splits:

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/29/2018.

There have now been three fourth-quarter collapses for Shanahan this season. And if the 49ers lost their Week 2 matchup against the Detroit Lions — a game in which the Niners gave up 14 fourth-quarter points and barely won 30-27 despite leading 30-13 early that quarter — this number would be much, much worse.

Why?

There are more than a handful of explanations here. If it all starts at the top, Shanahan’s play calling can be pointed out. His running game petered out for much of Week 8 but was especially ineffective in the fourth quarter. But rather than sticking to it and chewing up clock time, Shanahan still called for seven pass plays in the fourth quarter before San Francisco lost the lead.

Other questions arose in Weeks 4 and 6 too. Clock management has been an issue for Shanahan, prompting concerns he’s suffering from some sort of “paralysis by analysis” and overthinking what the situations are.

Meanwhile, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s decision to call off blitzes in Arizona despite them working so well over the first three quarters is just as big a head scratcher. Saleh’s blitzes were working well against Rosen for most of the game. Why Saleh changed up the game plan is a mystery.

Then, of course, there are the injuries. San Francisco has dealt with a ton of these over the course of the year, and it’s hurting the team’s chances. Case in point, safety Jaquiski Tartt exited Week 8 with a shoulder injury, giving way to backup safety Antone Exum. But Exum suffered a concussion in the second half, and that led to third-string safety Tyvis Powell getting starting reps.

Powell gave up both the Cardinals’ fourth-quarter touchdowns in Week 8.

It’s easy to point the blame at injuries and simply admit they can’t be controlled. But what can be controlled is adequately preparing for injuries by supplying the necessary depth.

Through eight weeks, it’s pretty clear the Niners failed in this area too.

Other elements help describe these fourth-quarter meltdowns too. The roster, overall, is still poor. Good teams figure out how to win these close games or, at the very least, overcome this kind of adversity when opponents are in desperation mode.

The 49ers are neither good nor are they capable of winning these kinds of games.

And a 1-7, including one narrow, almost-coughed-up win, is the ugly truth.