![\"49ers](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2024\/12\/08223422\/GettyImages-2188926787-scaled.jpg?width=1200&height=900&fit=cover\")
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SANTA CLARA, Calif. \u2014 The San Francisco 49ers still have plenty of talent. They still have plenty of good coaches.<\/p>\n
The missing element in their disappointing season so far, the team decided in the run-up to Sunday\u2019s 38-13 win over the Chicago Bears, has been desperation.<\/p>\n
That point was hammered home during the week of practice when normally reserved defensive lineman Leonard Floyd told teammates that even though it was early December, everyone had to snap into playoff mode.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, definitely,\u201d Floyd said when asked if he\u2019d been more vocal than normal. \u201cBecause I\u2019ve got a lot of experience and I\u2019ve been through situations where we had to win the rest of our games. It can be done. It just takes a certain mindset to get it done. So that\u2019s what I was preaching.\u201d<\/p>\n
GO DEEPER 49ers end 3-game slide by dominating Bears 38-13: Takeaways<\/p>\n
Floyd\u2019s sermon was reinforced Saturday at the meeting at the team hotel. Kyle Shanahan tapped two players who don\u2019t usually speak in front of the team, Brock Purdy and Deommodore Lenoir. And he also had tight end George Kittle, perhaps the best \u2014 and certainly the most lively \u2014 public speaker on the team, share a few words.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the message was we need to play with more of a sense of urgency and play desperate,\u201d Kittle said afterward. \u201cBecause we haven\u2019t really sensed that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kittle noted that previous 49ers squads got off to tepid starts but got desperate \u2014 and got on a roll \u2014 late in the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt literally felt like every single play people were scratching and clawing and fighting for everything,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not going to call anyone out \u2014 it\u2019s just felt like we haven\u2019t fought hard enough. And that was the message: Put it all out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Floyd, Lenoir and the defense had their best game of the season, smothering the Bears to the tune of 4 yards at halftime and sacking rookie quarterback Caleb Williams seven times. Two sacks came from Floyd, who said he\u2019s only recently started to hit his stride in the 49ers defense. Fellow defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos, meanwhile, finished with three sacks.<\/p>\n
\nBack 2 Back sacks for @__lobo99<\/a>!<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udcfa #CHIvsSF<\/a> on FOX
NFL+ \/\/ https:\/\/t.co\/KTh0i4oaLh<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/y2UJ04Dx7S<\/a><\/p>\n— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) December 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n