Joe Staley: "We played like s---", Frank Gore: "We’ve got to ... make our mind up on where we want to go"

The San Francisco 49ers put together a stinker performance on Sunday, and after the game, there was not a lot to be said. Jim Harbaugh met with the media and basically just repeatedly said the team did not play well, and needed to improve. The offense was the biggest concern in the game, and two of the leaders made it clear the performance was unacceptable.

Joe Staley kept his answers fairly simple. He mentioned how the team has been doing dumb stuff, and when asked what he meant, he said, "Penalties, dumb blocks, dumb techniques, and dumb schemes. We played like s---." That pretty much sums it up. You can pick and choose what to make of that, but he basically just laid the blame on everybody.

Frank Gore spoke with the media a little later, and he reiterated the problems. He said, "We've got too many weapons, and things just not going right for us. I don't know why. We practice hard, we study, things just not going our way ... We just have to look at ourselves as a team, and see what we want to do." A potentially more notable quotation was this one:

"(We) just got to make our mind up, do what we feel we're good at and just go do it," Gore said. "I still think we have a great coordinator. I still believe in our coordinator. He's been successful since he got here.

Joe Staley

Was it a good week of practice?
"Yeah, it was a great week of practice."

Does it take you by surprise with this line and group of playmakers?
"Yes. Very much so."

Is it all stuff you guys feel is correctable?
"Yeah. We have all the talent in the world. We've been doing some dumb stuff and they took advantage of it."

When you say dumb stuff, is it penalties?
"Penalties, dumb blocks, dumb techniques, and dumb schemes. We played like s---."

Frank Gore

I don't know if they get any tougher than this, do they, Frank?
"No, they don't get any tougher than this. We didn't play a good game. The defense gave us an opportunity and the offense, we didn't make plays when we had to. The Rams played a good game. They played hard and they got the win."

Is this kind of a turning point for a team where you have to regroup and decide where this team is going from this point forward? 
"We've got to just, as a team, come in Tuesday and make our mind up on where we want to go. We've got to play better ball as a team and we've got to make plays when it's there. We just haven't been consistent and in this league you can't do that. You can't win like that. We let the Rams hang around and they got the momentum and pulled it off."

Why weren't you guys able to adjust against their blitz?
"They're here for a reason. They're making plays. We've just got to play better."

Do you feel that everything is correctable?
"Yeah. We've just got to look at ourselves in the mirror and we're going to try to get to this postseason. We've got to go do it and stop playing around."