How Kyle Shanahan Revived the 49ers Offense
Kyle Shanahan needed to tweak the 49ers offense during the bye week, and he did. And his tweak was effective.
He realized his run-first approach wasn't working anymore -- his run game was getting shut down early in games and he was falling behind, which led to all kinds of problems for the 49ers. They're not built to come from behind. They're built to take an early lead and hold onto it.
So Shanahan used a pass-first approach against the Jaguars this Sunday. And it worked. Through three quarters, Shanahan called 24 passes and just 15 runs, and the 49ers scored 24 points. The game essentially was over at that point. In the fourth quarter, the 49ers ran the ball to use up the clock.
But when the game was a game, the 49ers passed more than they ran, which made the run game more efficient, and took advantage of all the weapons the 49ers have on offense. When they run the ball, the only weapon they take advantage of is Christian McCaffrey -- everyone else has to block. But when they pass, opposing defenses have to cover McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk -- an impossible task.
In the past, Shanahan called a run-heavy offense because he didn't trust his quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, for good reason -- he's terrible. A turnover waiting to happen.
Brock Purdy is not terrible. In fact, he's quite good. It's nice to see Shanahan finally trust him and put the game in his hands.
