SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Just when the San Francisco 49ers seemed to get head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense rolling, you had to wonder if the 49ers were truly trying to win Sunday.That’s what happens when you sit out arguably your best two players for key stretches of a winnable game, then play for overtime when you’re 2 yards away from that win.”I would never do that just to do it, especially at this time,” Shanahan insisted Monday when asked if his priorities have shifted more to playing younger players than trying to win. “I’m always going to try to do what I think gives us the best chance to win, because I still think we’re really into this, and I do think we have had a chance to win these games.”Despite playing standout running back Carlos Hyde less than half the time when they were on offense and sitting star linebacker NaVorro Bowman almost one-quarter of the defensive snaps, the 49ers found themselves with a chance to win Sunday’s game at Indianapolis.Having scored on a fourth-down pass from the 5-yard line with 20 seconds left, the 49ers found themselves down just 23-22 and with an opportunity to go for a potential game-winning, two-point conversion.But despite having all the momentum on his side, the fact that his team was desperate for a pick-me-up type of win, and facing one of the worst defenses in the league, Shanahan turned conservative. He called upon Robbie Gould to kick the extra point, which led to overtime and an eventual 26-23 defeat.”I thought about it hard,” Shanahan insisted Monday. “I felt like the longer that game lasted … I felt like the better team would win. And I felt like we were.”If I felt extremely fortunate to be in that game, and I felt like it was a matter of time before the other team was going to get after us, then I’d take my shot at the (two-pointer) and go for it. But I felt pretty confident in our team winning over the long haul.”The 49ers did have this going for them — they had their two best players fresher than most heading into the extra session.Hyde played a total of just 33 of the team’s 72 offensive snaps, Bowman 58 of the 76 on defense.Shanahan said he had different reasons the strategy.”I plan on going with Carlos early, and I plan on spelling him with (Matt) Breida regardless,” he said of his top two running backs. The rookie got 35 snaps in the game.”We ended up just going with the hot hand,” he continued.Shanahan went on to say that, ideally, Hyde would play even less, with him, Breida and third-stringer Raheem Mostert getting 25 snaps apiece.Similarly, Bowman is backed up by a player unaccomplished at the NFL level. But in the veteran’s case, Shanahan said taking his middle linebacker off the field for 18 snaps Sunday had to do with keeping him fresh.”We think keeping him fresher will help him, which will help our team, and if it does and helps him play at a higher level, then the plan worked,” Shanahan explained.Bowman still found time to lead the team with 10 tackles.-The 49ers took an interesting approach to their passing game in Sunday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts.They started out by feeding wideout Pierre Garcon underneath the coverage. He had five catches for 51 yards on the first drive alone, which got Brian Hoyer off to a fast start, if only producing a field goal.As the Colts’ defenders moved in, the 49ers went deep, finding speedy Marquise Goodwin five times for a career-best 116 yards, a 23.2-yard average. The only thing Goodwin didn’t do on his big day was find the end zone.Then, having established Garcon underneath and Goodwin over the top, the 49ers went to tight end George Kittle in the exposed middle, hooking up five times for 73 yards on a game-tying, 89-yard drive at the end of regulation. Fittingly, the rookie hauled in the tying TD pass, a 5-yarder on fourth down with 20 seconds left.So once again, the 49ers find themselves lamenting: If we could put it all together …”Brian did some good things in that game,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “I still expect him to play better.”-The 49ers hope to get injured outside linebacker Reuben Foster and possibly strong safety Eric Reid back on the practice field this week.Foster hasn’t played since suffering a high ankle sprain in the season opener against Carolina. Reid injured his knee against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3.Clearly, Foster is the closest to getting back into game action, even if it quite possibly won’t be this week at Washington.”By no means do I think that means he’s going to play on Sunday,” Shanahan said of Foster’s likely return to practice Wednesday. “We don’t want to put all that on Reuben. We’ll see how he looks and then we’ll evaluate.”-On a day when several NFL teams got hit big-time with injuries, the 49ers avoided any major casualties in the overtime loss.The only significant injury occurred to backup cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, who suffered a concussion when he was the victim of an illegal block in the back early in the game.The rookie who had played his way into significant playing time will enter the NFL’s concussion protocol this week.NOTES: QB Brian Hoyer recorded a passer rating of 101.1 in Sunday’s loss at Indianapolis, the first time he’s reached triple figures as a member of the 49ers. Hoyer’s 353 passing yards were a season-best and the second-most of his career, trailing only the 397 he had against Indianapolis in 2016. … FB Kyle Juszczyk had a 6-yard touchdown catch in Sunday’s loss at Indianapolis. The TD reception was his first of the season and sixth of his career. … WR Marquise Goodwin topped 100 yards in receptions for the second time in his career with a career-high 116 in Sunday’s loss at Indianapolis. His previous best had been 112 against the New York Jets in 2016. … TE George Kittle caught a game-tying, 5-yard touchdown with 20 seconds remaining in Sunday’s loss at Indianapolis. The TD reception was the first of his career. … OLB Ray-Ray Armstrong intercepted a pass at the goal line in overtime of Sunday’s loss at Indianapolis. Armstrong also had an interception last week at Arizona. He is the first 49er to record interceptions in back-to-back games since CB Kenneth Acker in 2015. … OLB Elvis Dumervil recorded 1.5 sacks in Sunday’s loss at Indianapolis. He’s now recorded at least half-a-sack against 31 of the 32 NFL teams, with the only exception being the Washington Redskins, who the 49ers play next. Only former New York Jets DE John Abraham has recorded at least half-a-sack against all 32 NFL teams. … CB Dexter McCoil was claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday. McCoil had appeared in two games for the Chargers this season, after having played in all 16 games, including two starts, in 2016. … FS Lorenzo Jerome was waived by the 49ers on Monday. The undrafted rookie played in four of the team’s first five games, totaling three tackles. … K Robbie Gould extended his season-opening streak of consecutive field goals to a franchise-best 14 with a 3-for-3 performance in Sunday’s loss at Indianapolis. The 14 straight broke the 49ers record of K Wade Richey, who opened the 1999 season by making 13 in a row. He has now made 31 in a row, the longest active streak in the NFL, dating back to 2015. Gould’s third field goal against the Colts was the 300th of his career. He became the 31st kicker in NFL history to reach the milestone.REPORT CARD VS. COLTS-PASSING OFFENSE: B-minus — Brian Hoyer had his best day as a 49er with 353 passing yards and two touchdowns. But with most of the success coming in the second half and overtime, you have to ask: Where was this in the first half, when the 49ers could have taken a lead?-RUSHING OFFENSE: F — The only thing worse than having a bad rushing game against a bad defense is creating a controversy while doing it. The 49ers had their top offensive weapon (running back Carlos Hyde) off the field more than he was on it Sunday, which again prompts a question: Why? Hyde’s replacement, Matt Breida, did well (10 carries, 49 yards), but mostly because his presence put the Colts in a pass-defense mode.-PASS DEFENSE: D-minus — Jacoby Brissett passed for 314 yards. You have to wonder: What if the Colts had a real quarterback, like Andrew Luck, available? If not for linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong’s interception in the end zone in overtime, the grade would have been an “F.”-RUSH DEFENSE: C-minus — The 49ers did a good job demonstrating that their former star, Frank Gore, has gotten old, limiting him to 48 yards on 14 carries. But as opposed to the 49ers, the Colts actually have an NFL-ready backup, and Marlon Mack burned them for 91 yards and a touchdown on nine carries. Brissett also added to the rushing success with a touchdown run.-SPECIAL TEAMS: B-plus — Bradley Pinion shanked a punt out of bounds just 31 yards, setting up a Colts field goal. That in and of itself made Sunday the worst of the 49ers’ five special teams efforts this season. Once again, they were great in kick coverage (7 total return yards) and were perfect in their field-goal kicking, with Robbie Gould going 3-for-3 to run his streak of season-opening successes to a franchise-best 14.-COACHING: F — Losing close contests when you’ve played good enough to win is a moral victory against superior teams such as Seattle. But doing it against Indianapolis only serves to demonstrate you’re not as good as some of the league’s lightweights.
