Shanahan: Blitz on Vikings’ TD pass was the wrong call
Kyle Shanahan’s terse response Monday night suggested he wasn’t enamored with San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks’ controversial blitz call near the end of the first half in a 2217 loss to the Vikings.
And the head coach removed any doubt about his feelings Wednesday.
“He knows he messed up on that call,” Shanahan said.
Wilks sent three blitzers with 16 seconds left in the second quarter and the Vikings facing third-and-6 from their 40-yard line with no timeouts left. The result of that call? Quarterback Kirk Cousins threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to wideout Jordan Addison, who ripped the ball away from cornerback Charvarius Ward, the only defender back deep in coverage. The score gave Minnesota a 16-7 lead.
Shanahan indicated Wilks should have made a more conservative call since the Vikings had no timeouts and perhaps time for just one play if they stayed in bounds.
“I have no problem with zero blitzes, especially when people need a lot of yards: If you need to get 20 yards to kick a field goal, I have no problem with a zero blitz.” Shanahan said. “But I do when there’s 16 seconds left. That’s where (Wilks) lost track. There was no necessary need for that just because of the time. I have no problem with that play call, but when it’s that time, you can’t do that. That’s not an option.”
Ward, who declined to speak with reporters after Monday’s game, took responsibility for his role on the play Wednesday.
“Once coach calls a play, we have to go out there and execute,” Ward said. “It doesn’t matter if he calls Cover 1, Cover 2, Cover 3, Cover 0. We have to go out there and execute when he makes the play call. If I go out and pick that ball off, it would have been a completely different story.”
Ward initially grasped the underthrown pass before Addison took it away at the 33-yard line and wasn’t touched on his way to a touchdown.
“He made a good-ass play,” Ward said. “I thought I had it. And the next thing you know, he had it, I’m on the ground and he’s in the end zone.”
Injury report: Left tackle Trent Williams remained out of practice after missing the loss to the Vikings with a sprained ankle he suffered against the Browns on Oct. 15. Williams missed only two snaps after he was injured in the first quarter in Cleveland, but he hasn’t practiced since.
Sneak story: Warner said he made his sensational flying-leap tackle of Cousins on a QB sneak in the third quarter after observing Cousins stayed a bit upright on sneaks.
Warner timed his jump perfectly and stoned Cousins for no gain on 1stand-goal from the 1-yard line.
“Am I going to do that moving forward? Probably not,” Warner said. “Because it doesn’t always work like that. If they do run it correctly and they submarine and go down, then jumping over isn’t the right answer. It just happened to have worked that one time.”