The Nineteenth-century thinker Arthur Schopenhauer as soon as stated, “Expertise hits a goal nobody else can hit. Genius hits a goal nobody else can see.”
That’s a flowery means of claiming that a genius does extra with much less.
Proper now, I’m not seeing a lot genius from 49ers head coach and offensive play-caller Kyle Shanahan.
Sure, the 49ers’ offense, like its protection, is all types of injured — down each beginning tackles, a first-string quarterback, and its prime tailback. However Shanahan’s offense nonetheless has glorious extensive receivers, an elite tight finish (at the least in repute), high quality operating backs, and a quarterback who began for the workforce for 5 years.
Shanahan is doing much less with much less, and if that doesn’t change, it is going to outline San Francisco’s season, on this, a defining 12 months for Shanahan as a head coach.
As an offensive coordinator, Shanahan took Washington to the playoffs, made the Cleveland Browns respectable for a season, and turned the 2016 Falcons into an all-time nice offense with Matt Ryan profitable NFL MVP.
However in six years because the 49ers’ head coach and offensive play-caller, Shanahan has had just one top-10 scoring offense. It got here in 2019, when the 49ers went to the Tremendous Bowl, after which collapsed.
After Sunday’s embarrassing 28-14 loss to the Falcons, it’s powerful to see this being a Prime 10 scoring offense.
Shanahan has retained his repute as an “offensive genius” regardless of offenses that sputter greater than drive, Maybe it’s as a result of so many former Shanahan assistants have taken over different groups and authored large organizational turnarounds along with his outside-zone offensive system.
However that solely means Shanahan’s on-time benefit over the remainder of the league is dwindling.
And proper now, it’s unattainable to disregard the peeling on the edges of that “genius” label.
Sunday’s recreation is a worthwhile referendum level on Shanahan for 2 causes:
- The Niners’ offense confirmed no consciousness, self-discipline, or ingenuity in opposition to a suspect Atlanta protection.
- Atlanta head coach and play-caller Arthur Smith — who makes use of the identical base, run-first, outside-zone offense as Shanahan — out-Shanahan’d the Niners’ coach.
The 49ers, even with its unimaginable damage record, are a extra gifted workforce than the Falcons.
Smith is working with an offense comprised of a journeyman quarterback, a no-name offensive line, practice-squad operating backs, and two younger and inconsistent receivers.
But that unit was in a position to ruthlessly execute on Sunday. Atlanta managed the ball for many of the recreation, selecting up regular if unspectacular features on the bottom and changing within the passing recreation on third-and-short conditions. Atlanta quarterback Marcus Mariota — now on his third NFL workforce due to accuracy points — didn’t throw an incompletion till the fourth quarter. He completed 13 of 14 with two touchdowns and ran for 50 yards and one other landing.
It was a superb efficiency. But it surely was a profitable efficiency solely as a result of the 49ers’ offense regarded constipated.all recreation.
As Atlanta’s protection bought out to cease the Niners’ run recreation — leaving acres of house open within the move recreation — the 49ers’ offense tried solely two throws exterior the numbers on the sphere whereas making an attempt one-third of its passes at or behind the road of scrimmage.
You’d suppose Shanahan and Garoppolo — of their sixth season collectively — would have discovered just a few downfield performs that the quarterback can execute in conditions like Sunday’s.
However one way or the other, it constantly took 5 performs to arrange one of many Niners’ six move makes an attempt over 15 yards within the recreation. Not one was accomplished — a byproduct of drops, inaccuracy, penalties, and predictable play calls.
Shanahan’s stubbornness as a play-caller was finest exemplified by the workforce’s baffling 16-play, 80-yard drive that took greater than eight minutes off the clock within the fourth quarter.
The Niners took possession at their 1 with 10:42 to play. Atlanta didn’t contact the ball till there was 2:34 remaining within the recreation.
It was a masterclass in defending a two-touchdown lead.
The one downside: The Niners had been down two touchdowns.
No consciousness. No urgency. No creativity. As treasured seconds dwindled, the Niners huddled, ran their usual performs — together with runs that left the clock operating, and did plenty of standing on the line of scrimmage.
All the Bay space was yelling on the Niners to rush up. Even the Falcons appeared shocked San Francisco was taking part in it so sluggish.
If I didn’t know higher, I’d say that Shanahan was content material to lose and was making an attempt to hasten the proceedings by preserving the Niners at their common tempo.
That was not the invisible goal Schopenhauer was speaking about.
Shanahan scripts the primary 24 performs of each recreation and the primary eight performs of the second half.
When he's on script, the Niners are fairly good. Sunday, the Niners ran 23 first-half performs and had two touchdowns.
However over the previous couple of seasons, when Shanahan doesn’t have his cheat sheet and a lead, he has regarded overmatched as a play-caller. That is very true in large, demanding conditions when time is an element.
The Niners are but to come back from behind from something greater than a four-point deficit going into the fourth quarter in Shanahan’s six years in cost, going 0-26 because the begin of 2017, per the Related Press.
San Francisco’s season isn’t over after Sunday’s loss. The NFC is weak this season, which retains the 3-3 Niners within the thick of issues with plenty of soccer to play.
However the loss in Atlanta did present all the explanations this workforce can’t be thought of a real Tremendous Bowl contender proper now.
Accidents are No. 1. My goodness, the Niners are banged up, particularly on protection.
However the subsequent largest limitation is the workforce’s head coach and offensive play-caller and his strained relationships along with his long-time quarterback and pragmatism.
Shanahan is meant to be the answer, not the issue. And the longer that expectation is inverted — the longer the Niners’ prime man is missing any spark of genius — the more severe issues will get for San Francisco.
