Niners great Jerry Rice lays down gameplan for team after Seahawks loss
Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice has seen and done it all. Following the 20-17 stumble against Geno Smith's Seattle Seahawks, Rice believed that the 49ers' troubles came with their mindset.
Speaking on 95.7's "The Morning Roast," Rice explained that the problem lay with their goal setting.
"We got to be able to finish ball games. And when you got a team down, if you just leave them around to just hang around, hang around, that momentum is going to change. We always felt like, hey, look, we're going to go for the throat, man. I mean, once we got up on you, we were not going to come off the gas. We were going to choke you out. So that's the mindset that I feel the Niners they need to get once they get up on the opponent, go for the throat and just completely destroy that team."
Rice's opinion suggests the 49ers simply looked to win the game instead of dominating. It seems the key, in his opinion, was to set the bar at a higher level than just squeaking by.
49ers schedule toughens up
The Niners face a tough road over the next fortnight. They follow up their loss to the Seahawks with trips to Green Bay and Buffalo to take on the Packers and Bills.
The Bills game will take place in primetime, adding to the pressure to get something figured out. If Christian McCaffrey or Brock Purdy don't make a statement in the next two games, the 49ers could slide to 5-7 given the quality of their opponents.
However, even at 5-5, Jerry Rice's former team is still in the mix for the postseason. The Arizona Cardinals sit at the top of the NFC West at just 6-4, so the road is still open there. However, the 49ers will need a surge to lock down a playoff spot and remove any late-season drama from the equation given they've already dropped games to every team in the division.