Grant Cohn: Who’s to blame for 49ers’ season of repeated failures?

SANTA CLARA — Everything Chip Kelly says sounds the same.

Maybe it's me. Maybe listening to him four times a week the past two months makes me think I'm hearing the same coded message every time he opens his mouth.

My mind tends to organize what it takes in thematically — I studied English at UCLA. Maybe I'm projecting the wrong theme onto Kelly's words. Because no matter what Kelly says, I hear, 'Don't blame me for this horrible season. Blame Trent Baalke. He picked these players, and they're bad. There's nothing I can do about that.'

You may disagree with my interpretation, and I admit it's possible I'm wrong. But let me make my case to you. Let me explicate a few of Kelly's recent quotes the way I would have explicated The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge as an undergraduate.

Passage 1. From this Wednesday, in response to a question about the 49ers' third-down offense.

KELLY: 'We're not completing the ball the way we should … You look at the prime example in the one game that really it stuck out for you was in the Seattle game. And in the Seattle game, I want to say it was nine or 10 times we were third-and-6 or less and didn't convert. When you're playing a good football team, the first thing you have to do is get into manageable third-down situations. So, it's about us doing a good job of putting a plan together and giving them an opportunity to convert on third down.'

Kelly starts the passage using the pronoun 'we,' as if he's including himself in the blame for the offense's poor results on third down. Then, he talks about 'not completing the ball' in 'manageable third-down situations.'

I take that to mean he feels he's 'doing a good job.' Feels he's putting his offense in positions to be successful (third-and-less-than-6-yards), but his quarterback and wide receivers simply cannot connect as they should because they're bad. And that's why the third-down offense stinks.

Blame Baalke.

Passage 2. From this past Sunday after the loss to the Saints, in response to a question about why the defense gave up 41 points and a season-high 571 total yards.

KELLY: 'You get them into situations where you feel comfortable — it's third-and-long — and then all of a sudden Drew (Brees) just keeps hitting those back-shoulder throws where our guys are there but then don't make a play on the ball. It's unfortunate when you're playing against somebody as talented as him — really, truly a Hall-of-Fame quarterback. You've got to make plays, and we didn't.'

Again, Kelly talks about manageable situations — 'situations where you feel comfortable,' as he put it this time. Third-and-long. Exactly where the defense wants to be.

Kelly is saying the coaches did all they could. Unfortunately, the players didn't 'make a play on the ball' as they should have, because they're bad. And that's why the defense stinks.

Blame Baalke.

Passage 3. From this past Monday, in response to a question about the lethargic mentality of the 49ers' run defense, which set a record against the Saints by allowing an opposing running back to gain at least 100 yards on the ground for the seventh game in a row.

KELLY: 'I don't believe the energy is lacking on the defense … I think execution is lacking on the defensive side of the ball in terms of being able to shut opponents down. We've got to do a better job tackling.'

Yet again, it's the players' fault because they don't tackle well. And they don't tackle well because they're bad. But defense is more than good execution, and this is where Kelly is wrong. And this is where he's failing.

In case you don't know, the coach's job is to instill a relentless mentality in his defensive players. On defense, mentality is everything. According to Kelly, he is motivating his defensive players properly and telling them the right things to do, they just can't do them because they're bad. And that's why the run defense stinks.

Blame Baalke.

Before I analyze Kelly's words, let's be clear — I do agree with Kelly up to a point. His players are bad and he didn't pick them. Baalke did. No one disputes those facts. I just don't like Kelly continuously shifting blame away from himself and onto players and the general manager.

Especially in Passage 3, in which he implied the defense's issues are talent, technique and tackling. No. The real issue is much more basic than those three things. Players don't need to have great talent or exactly the proper technique. They need to play with passion on defense, and a fiery coach like Jim Harbaugh instills this.

Don't believe me? Read this bonus passage from former All-Pro defensive lineman Justin Smith, one of the most relentless 49ers ever. This passage comes from an Aug. 18 interview on KNBR, and it's in response to a question about Smith's pregame preparation.

SMITH: 'You just kinda walk around the locker room, walk around outside and just kinda work yourself up mentally — it's all mental — to get ready to play and try to whoop somebody's ass. That's basically what it comes down to. Techniques, this and that — if you really watch tape, there's a lot of bad technique out there. It's just guys getting after it and using whatever they've got to try to get the job done. That's about all it is.'

According to Smith, the 49ers' defensive players should be able to whoop ass even with bad technique and a lack of talent. But they don't — they passively receive the whooping all game, every game. They're attitude is faulty.

Blame Kelly.

Grant Cohn writes sports columns and the 'Inside the 49ers' blog for The Press Democrat's website. You can reach him at grantcohn@gmail.com.