Jim Harbaugh helped the 49ers this week.
When he was the 49ers’ head coach, he made the team stay in Youngstown, Ohio, twice — once in 2011 and once in 2012. The idea was to keep the players on East Coast time during the week between back- to-back East Coast road games.
The idea worked. Harbaugh’s 49ers won both games they played after staying in Youngstown. They beat the Eagles 24-23 in 2011 and blew out the Jets 34-0 in 2012.
Kyle Shanahan borrowed Harbaugh’s idea this week and kept the 49ers in Youngstown in preparation for Sunday’s game against the Bengals in Cincinnati.