NFC Notes: 49ers, Cardinals, Rams

49ers

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said the team wouldn’t have succeeded against any quarterback the way they played. The division-leading Cardinals were missing dynamic QB Kyler Murray, but backup Colt McCoy shredded San Francisco anyway. 

“That’s something I aggressively talked about last night,” Shanahan said, via 49ers WebZone. “For those guys to let down on it — I think it came down to, you guys saw how we tackled out there. We didn’t stop the run and we didn’t stop those screens, which when you’re giving up some explosive screens and all that free yardage, it didn’t matter who was playing quarterback. We made it extremely easy on him.”

Shanahan was particularly upset because he thought they prepared well for the game.

“That’s why I’m extremely disappointed,” Shanahan said. “I’m obviously wrong, but I was very surprised that we didn’t play well today. I thought we had a great week of practice. I thought guys were on it in the meetings all week, and I felt their energy before the game. I was very caught off by how we played.”

• 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo said his lower leg got injured on the roughing call in the second half but reassured reporters he was OK. Garoppolo had a limp while at the post-game press conference. (Eric Branch)
• Shanahan mentioned after the game one option to replace RT Mike McGlinchey would be to bump fourth-round OT Jaylon Moore over from left tackle to right tackle. (Nick Wagoner)
• 49ers DE Nick Bosa said the team isn’t creating enough turnovers on defense, which has led to them losing: “I think this year with turnovers, we’re not getting them and we’re giving them up too much. That’s a big sign of a losing team. And that’s what we are right now.” (Eric Branch)
• Despite the team’s loss to the Cardinals, Shanahan has no plans to start first-round QB Trey Lance over Garoppolo. “Probably not, but definitely not thinking about those things right now. I’m thinking about this game and the rest of our team.” (49ers Web Zone)

Cardinals

• Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury said WR DeAndre Hopkins is day-to-day with his hamstring injury. (Josh Weinfuss)
• Kingsbury added LS Aaron Brewer is out “a couple weeks,” OL Justin Pugh (calf) is day-to-day and C Max Garcia re-aggravated his Achilles injury. (Darren Urban)

Rams

• Rams HC Sean McVay took the blame for the team’s penalties on Sunday: “I didn’t do nearly a good enough job for our football team tonight. We were uncharacteristic with the penalties, the turnovers.” (Rams.com)
• Rams QB Matthew Stafford said he suffered an ankle injury, but it felt ok after the game. (Lindsay Thiry)