Kyle Shanhan knew the 49ers had a great defense last season right away. In fact, he was so confident in them that he believed it was his best group since he was an offensive quality control coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2004, two seasons after they won a Super Bowl.
But he felt the offense was a bit behind, even though they scored 72 points through the first two games. Two wins, however, showed Shanahan this 49ers team was for real.
"Especially the Pittsburgh game, I think it was our third game," Shanahan recalled to NBC Sports' Chris Simms on the latest episode of "Chris Simms Unbuttoned." "We had five turnovers in the first half and we still came back and won. And we did it by running the ball and playing good defense."
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Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was intercepted twice, and the 49ers lost three fumbles against the Steelers in Week 3. But they also forced two turnovers on defense and ran for 168 yards in the 24-20 win.
Early on, San Francisco proved they could win even when Garoppolo was off and the 49ers didn't have their best effort as a whole. Two games later, the 49ers beat the defending NFC-champion Rams, 20-7, in Los Angeles and really proved to Shanahan they were for real.
"At the end of the game, I think eight of our 11 guys out there were backups that hadn't played before," Shanahan said. "And to still be able to dominate that game just physically the way our D was playing, that's when I was like 'Alright, I feel pretty special with this team.' And then the offense kept getting better each week."
San Francisco 49ers
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The 49ers held Rams QB Jared Goff to just 74 yards passing in the win, and the Rams totaled only 157 yards. It was a pure dominant performance by the 49ers' defense.
Shanahan knew this was a special team, one that only lost three games the entire regular season.
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