Explosive offense finding a whole new gear
After the nearest Arizona Cardinals defender to Christian McCaffrey on the running back’s 41yard touchdown catch Sunday was standing on a corner in Winslow, head coach Jonathan Gannon assigned responsibility for the oh-so-easy score.
“Yeah, that’s on coaching,” Gannon said. “Anytime a guy is wide open, it’s completely on coaching.”
Gannon wasn’t referring to his counterpart after his team’s 45-29 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, but Arizona cornerback Antonio Hamilton, speaking generally about the 49ers’ ability to score six touchdowns, one of which featured another all-by-himself passcatcher, said this: Some of the 49ers’ success was, well, on coaching. Really good coaching.
“Kyle Shanahan, he has it,” Hamilton said. “He is an offensive mad scientist. He knows how to get those run schemes set up. He’s been around the game for a long time and he understands how to rush the ball, how to screen the ball, how to get these short passes out to get those guys into a rhythm. He does a great job with those guys.”
Kyle and Co. appear to have morphed from explosive to unstoppable before what could be their biggest test of the season: The 49ers (11-3) on Christmas night will host the Ravens (11-3), who have allowed the fewest points (16.1 per game) in the NFL and the second fewest yards (287.9 per game).
The 49ers figure to be undaunted, given the way their second-ranked offense has collected points and yards the past three weeks. The 49ers have scored 115 points in wins over the Eagles, Seahawks and Cardinals, their highest three-game total since December 2003 (119). They also have gained 1,389 yards, their most in a three-game span since SeptemberOctober 2019 (1,453).
During the three-week stretch, quarterback Brock Purdy has averaged 308 passing yards and tossed 10 touchdown passes, wide receiver Deebo Samuel has averaged 104.7 receiving yards and scored seven touchdowns, and McCaffrey has averaged 117.7 rushing yards and scored four touchdowns.
Asked Monday about the 49ers’ offense, Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh, in his 16th season with the Ravens, discussed Shanahan and the roots of his system. In 2012, the Ravens, en route to a Super Bowl title, lost 31-28 in overtime to Washington, which was coached by Mike Shanahan.
“It’s a system that Kyle has built forth through the tradition of his dad … and he’s taken it to another place,” Harbaugh said. “He really has expanded it and evolved it in a great way.”
During Shanahan’s conference call with reporters Monday, it was clear that he expected McCaffrey to be running free on his 41-yard scoring reception. And Shanahan expected a similar result on wide receiver Samuel’s 12-yard touchdown catch on which he had no defenders near him and nearly walked the final 3 yards into the end zone.
Shanahan said he knew the 49ers had the right defensive “look” on McCaffrey’s catch. Shanahan referenced Arizona’s tendencies when asked about Samuel’s grab.
“It was just some things we saw on tape and just trying to make things tie together,” Shanahan said. “We thought some things that showed on tape could maybe play out that way. And we got the right look. And it played out well.”
Harbaugh noted Shanahan has tailored his system to his players’ strengths.
Those players include Purdy, an NFL MVP candidate, four All-Pros (McCaffrey, Samuel, tight end George Kittle, left tackle Trent Williams), Pro Bowl fullback Kyle Juszczyk and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who ranks ninth in the NFL with 1,090 receiving yards.
“It’s built around the players,” Harbaugh said. “I mean, you’ve got five, probably, All-Pro skill guys on that offense, and, not to mention, a really good offensive line and a Hall of Fame tackle. So he’s built it around those guys. And that’s what makes it tough.”