49ers feel Super hangover
Host Rams with bevy of issues that longtime NFC West rivals can relate to from last year
The warning signs of a Super Bowl hangover are growing by the week, along with the number in the San Francisco 49ers’ loss column:
• The star quarterback may not be such a star.
• Moves by the young, hotshot coach are more circumspect.
• Offensive line breakdowns are plentiful.
• Running back knee injuries are, well, not good.
• Defensive heroes are missing, amid cornerback upheaval.
Why, that also sounds like the 49ers’ immediate predecessors, the 2019 Los Angeles Rams, who missed the playoffs after losing in the prior season’s Super Bowl.
Rams coach Sean McVay isn’t ready to throw dirt on the 49ers’
presumed fate, at least not before Sunday night’s matchup at Levi’s Stadium.
“Five games is a really small inventory to write the narrative,” McVay said on a conference call with Bay Area media.
“I know these guys will be ready to go. I know what great coaches, what great players they have, so I think there’s a lot of football left to be played for both
teams.”
Who’s around to play out that string — or that comeback streak — for the 49ers? Injuries have derailed them from the start, and no team — the Rams, included — has ever had to rebound from a Super Bowl loss while navigating crisis after crisis amid a pandemic.
Here are five issues the 49ers are workshopping and how the 2019 Rams relate:
QUARTERBACK PLAY >> For Jimmy Garoppolo to restore his reputation as a savvy winner, he will have to play (and win) through a highankle sprain, something he was unable to do at first try last Sunday. He got benched by halftime of a 43-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins.
It wasn’t that Garoppolo looked like a sitting duck in the pocket as much as he lacked zip and accuracy, amid an insecure pocket. Those are his trademarks: quick passes on the money, preferably over the middle to George Kittle or an elusive wide receiver for yards after the catch.
Jumping off the Garoppolo bandwagon so soon is a dicey call. A year ago, the Rams opened 3-2 while Jared Goff had seven touchdown passes and seven interceptions; this year, he has eight TDs, three interceptions and four straight games with a passer rating over 100.
Coach Kyle Shanahan acknowledged that high-ankle sprains can linger all season. If Garoppolo can balance the pain while moving the offense down field, that is the 49ers’ best and perhaps only shot at quarterback success.
COACH ‘EM UP >> Offensive players have expressed surprise at some defensive schemes they’ve faced. Right tackle Mike McGlinchey called them “wild looks.” Has Shanahan lost the element of surprise and yielded it to his opponents?
Although Dolphins coach Brian Flores remarked how Shanahan’s misdirectionand motion-oriented strategies also come with a touch of gimmicks, creative calls have been few and far between this season, aside from the occasional gem such as Kyle Jusczczyk’s touchdown on a fullback dive last Sunday.
Shanahan has thrived when matching wits against McVay, who was groomed in the Shanahan scheme when they were Washington in 2010-13.
“So much of what I’ve learned about this game stems from being able to work under Kyle in Washington,” McVay said. “… Offensively, a lot of these things are predicated on being able to create after the catch, trying to create some space, accuracy and location by the quarterback.”
A year ago, 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh countered McVay’s play calls and constantly
celebrated on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum’s sideline in a 20-7 49ers win Oct. 13.
A week ago, Saleh’s defense got embarrassed, specifically his secondary, especially fill-in cornerback Brian Allen, who everyone agrees should have had more help (and better technique) before his merciful benching. Emmanuel Moseley’s return from a concussion is much needed to offset the Rams’ attack. O-LINE CONFIDENCE >> Left tack le Trent Williams and right tackle Mike McGlinchey recently took turns defending their play, saying any breakdowns were not developing into a habit. That is what they claimed publicly. Privately, they surely know things must improve.
Guards Laken Tomlinson and Daniel Brunskill have had perhaps even more issues on the interior, all while center Ben Garland plays pretty well through his own high ankle sprain from mid-August.
“O-linemen playing together is similar like five basketball players trying to play zone defense together,” Shanahan said. “It doesn’t matter what you do on your own or how you work out or anything. It’s the continuity of guys moving together and getting those reps all the time.”
The 49ers have continuity, which makes their breakdowns so baffling. A year ago, the Rams’ line lacked continuity, and injuries forced them to shuffle their unit which has blossomed into a better unit this year.
McGlinchey called criticism of him and the 49ers’ linemen “over the top,” that it is a “lazy narrative of one play or two, and (critics) see something on Twitter and think they have it figured out.”
Thing is, the 49ers can not afford one or two lapses against Aaron Donald on Sunday — or any other defender on any other day while the offense struggles. RUNNING BACK REVIVAL >> Raheem Mostert leads all NFL running backs with 7 yards per carry, and he showed fluidity last Sunday when he ran for 90 yards after a 2 1/2-game absence.
“He was probably the best football player on the field on Sunday and wish we could have got the ball to him more,” Shanahan said, “but you could tell he
was ready to go.”
Then go to him more this game. Lean on Mostert, then spell him with Jerick McKinnon; JaMycal Hasty also might get a chance to shine while Jeff Wilson deals with a calf injury. Confidence in running backs is key, and production is vital to take pressure off a quarterback regains his footing.
“People saw what we did last year,” McGlinchey said of opposing defenses. “They saw the road that we took to the Super Bowl, they saw the success on the ground and they were going to make sure that that didn’t happen to them.”
Last year, as the Rams slumped in the NFC West, Todd Gurley’s mysterious knee injury was a constant talking point. Gurley had 1,251 yards and 17 touchdowns in the 2018 Rams’ Super Bowl run, then he got cut after last season.
Now the Rams are taking a page out of Shanahan’s playbook by relying on a committee approach with Darrell Henderson, Malcolm Brown and rookie Cam Akers.
DEFENSIVE HEROES >> Fred Warner alone can not elevate a 49ers defense past the losses of so many injured starters, whether it’s those in front of him (Nick Bosa, Dee Ford, Solomon Thomas), behind him (Richard Sherman, Emmanuel Moseley, K’Waun Williams) or next to him (Kwon Alexander, out this game with a high-ankle sprain).
With that glut of talent, the 49ers need Arik Armstead and Kerry Hyder to make more plays and finish off sacks, while veteran safeties Jaquiski Tartt and Jimmie Ward resurrect the secondary no matter who is filling in at cornerback.
The 2019 Rams saw several defensive stars exit — Ndamukong Suh, Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib — then made some moves to get them back into contention, whether it was a midseason trade for Jalen Ramsey or the postseason coaching changes in which Wade Phillips was among three Rams’ coordinators to get replaced.
“When you don’t have that Super Bowl defense that we had last year, it does put more pressure (on the 49ers offense), but I don’t see that our defense can’t play at a high level,” Shanahan said Thursday.