All 49ers

Kyle Shanahan Explains Why the 49ers' Red Zone Offense Isn't Good

Do something creative, Kyle.

Grant Cohn

Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan watches the action from the sideline in the second quarter against the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images
Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan watches the action from the sideline in the second quarter against the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images / David Gonzales-Imagn Images
In this story:

SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers offense makes no sense.

It currently averaged 6.3 yards per play -- second most in the NFL. They move the ball down the field seemingly at will. But when they get into the red zone, everything falls apart. Suddenly, the second-best offense in the league becomes the third-worst red-zone attack in the NFL.

What's the problem?

"Wish I could give you guys a theme for the redzone," said head coach Kyle Shanahan, "but you get three tries when you're inside the 10 and depending on what you do, when we run the ball there, I think we need to be much more effective running it. When you run the ball twice, you'd like to get in and not just put one pressure third down on the pass game. And when you do throw it more, then you’ve got to make sure you come through with those, especially not having a negative play with those. Running the ball better takes a lot of pressure off, also gives some better passing looks. We've tried both and haven't been good enough with both of those. So it's all aspects of offense.”

TRANSLATION: Jordan Mason needs to run better and Brock Purdy needs to stop taking sacks and throwing interceptions. Execution is the problem, not play design or play calling.

I disagree with Shanahan's assessment.

Play calling certainly is the problem. Rather than ram Mason into a brick wall, throw him a screen pass. Get him the ball in space.

Do something creative, Kyle.

Download and follow The Best 49ers Podcast.

Published |Modified
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

Home/News