Ahead of this past weekend, San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch insisted he found suggestions claiming the club could potentially listen to trade offers for head coach Kyle Shanahan during the winter “rather comical” because Lynch is “100% behind Kyle and what he brings to our organization.”
Following San Francisco’s 38-13 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday that improved the 49ers to 6-7, Shanahan spoke about his wishes for his short-term future.
“I don’t want to be any place in the world more than here, and my family feels just as strong, if not a lot stronger,” Shanahan told reporters, as shared by David Bonilla of 49ers Webzone. “You guys are going to have to kick me out of here. There’s no way I’m making that decision.”
Since the start of the 2019 season, the team of Lynch and Shanahan has guided the 49ers to four NFC Championship Games and two Super Bowl appearances. However, Shanahan never got his hands on the Vince Lombardi Trophy over that time, and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio raised eyebrows when he said multiple times last week that the Bears should call the 49ers about a possible trade for Shanahan because the coach “looks exhausted” and because San Francisco’s window to win a title with its current core may have closed.
Florio mentioned on Sunday night that his point “was and is that the Bears should turn over every stone in search of a new coach.”
Sunday’s win at Levi’s Stadium doesn’t erase the fact that the 49ers face an uphill climb regarding their pursuit of a playoff berth amid their ongoing injury crisis. Heading into their “Thursday Night Football” home game versus the 7-6 Los Angeles Rams, the NFL’s website gave the Niners just an 8 percent chance to qualify for the postseason tournament.
“It’s going to come fast, and the only way we’re going to really enjoy [Sunday] is if we take care of business on Thursday,” Shanahan said about carrying momentum from the win over the Bears through the game against the Rams, per 49ers Webzone. “…But if you don’t take care of business on Thursday, not much to celebrate about [Sunday].”
As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the 49ers as 2.5-point favorites for Thursday’s clash against the Rams.
