Analyzing whether the NFL has figured out the San Francisco 49ers' offensive scheme.
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00:00 A lot of people are pointing to the defense as the source of the 49ers issues.
00:04 But it's the whole team.
00:06 After the game against the Bengals, George Kittle was at the post-game press conference
00:11 and I asked him, "Did you guys get too confident after the Cowboys game?"
00:17 Which is kind of a naive question, as if this is all a mindset issue with the 49ers.
00:21 And Kittle was like, "No, we're not running the ball well."
00:25 Kyle Shanahan and his dad, for years, all their success goes back to running the ball
00:31 outside zone.
00:32 And we're not running the ball well, and that's the root of all of it.
00:35 It's really interesting.
00:36 And you think, go back and look at it.
00:38 It's true.
00:42 Last four games, Christian McCaffrey hasn't rushed for more than 54 yards in a game.
00:47 And it seems like what's going on is, people are saying, "Is he worn down?
00:51 Is the offense aligned?"
00:53 I think what's happening is that Kyle Shanahan's scheme has gotten figured out.
00:58 What he does with Christian McCaffrey has been fully shown, fully exposed, and now everyone
01:02 sees it and can shut it down.
01:04 The Cowboys did it week five, and every team since then has done it as well.
01:08 And I think it's time to look at Kyle Shanahan, the offensive coordinator, and his brilliant
01:14 playbook and his brilliant play designs, and ask, "Man, how come you can't run the ball
01:19 anymore with Christian McCaffrey?"
01:21 Meanwhile, you look at the Miami Dolphins, who have Mike McDaniel.
01:26 They're averaging 5.9 yards per carry, number one in the league in that stat.
01:30 They got Raheem Mostard averaging 5.6 yards per carry.
01:32 They don't have Christian McCaffrey.
01:33 They don't have Trent Williams.
01:34 They don't have George Kittle.
01:35 They don't have Kyle Juszczyk.
01:36 Can you imagine what Christian McCaffrey would be doing on the Dolphins?
01:43 I think we've got to look at Kyle right now and say, "Man, where is the creativity, dude?"
01:47 Yeah, so let's summarize.
01:50 The idea that McCaffrey's getting worn down may be true, but it's not the main point.
01:56 And in fact, it's a distraction.
01:58 The point is, they have a certain running attack with him.
02:01 He's shown every variation of it.
02:04 These people on the opponents are not stupid.
02:07 They see the film, and they say, "Look what he does here.
02:09 Look what he does here."
02:11 And it's gone around the league.
02:12 So McCaffrey has gone from someone who's always busting it out to someone who runs a few yards
02:18 and gets knocked down.
02:19 That's right.
02:20 And he's not a big guy.
02:21 No.
02:22 I mean, teams have figured out that they've decided, "We're not going to let Christian
02:25 McCaffrey beat us."
02:26 Dan Quinn decided that.
02:28 He got smoked by Brock Purdy and the 49ers.
02:31 But he said, "I'm not letting Christian McCaffrey beat me."
02:33 They shut him down, and every team since then has done the same exact thing.
02:36 And Brock Purdy hasn't been playing so well.
02:38 It all starts with shutting down the run game.
02:40 George Kittle said it.
02:42 And I don't know.
02:43 It's like, "How are you going to get this run game back on track, Kyle?
02:45 What are you going to do?"
02:46 Because you know and I know the person who would normally do that is the coach of the
02:49 Dolphins now.
02:50 So you can't call him.
02:52 Are you going to go back and look at the stuff you ran with him two years ago when he was
02:55 on the team?
02:56 Are you going to look at Dolphins tape and try to reverse engineer what they're doing
02:59 over there?
03:00 Or do you have an original idea?
03:01 Because it seems like your big idea last year was trade for McCaffrey.
03:05 Okay.
03:06 Well, that doesn't seem to be working so much anymore.
03:09 What's the next idea?
03:10 You have one.
03:11 You need one right now.
03:12 I have another idea.
03:15 I think he should use some of his other running backs.
03:18 But I have something to say about that.
03:20 Jordan Mason or Elijah Mitchell.
03:22 I think they're both very good.
03:24 Elijah Mitchell has been hurt a lot and he hasn't really found his stride.
03:28 But I think let's say they're both very good.
03:31 I think he should use them more.
03:34 But here's the caveat, not the way he uses CMC.
03:41 They're different kind of running backs.
03:43 They're more power, more up the middle.
03:45 He needs to have separate packages for each one of those guys that is not the same that
03:52 he has for McCaffrey.
03:54 If he does, he can have some success because he hasn't shown that before.
03:59 But he has to show the energy and perseverance and imagination to do it.
04:08 In a way, Jordan Mason could be the key to unlocking this offense in the second half.
04:12 When the Niners, like last year, their offense was stuck at 19 points per game.
04:18 They brought in a new player, Christian McCaffrey.
04:20 There was no book on how the Niners were going to use him.
04:22 It worked.
04:23 Not as much anymore.
04:24 The year before that, they were 2-4, 3-4.
04:27 They were stuck.
04:28 They needed a spark.
04:29 They needed Debo Samuel, a running back.
04:30 No one knew how to stop it because there wasn't any film on it.
04:33 It worked.
04:34 What do you got this year that teams haven't seen so much?
04:37 Jordan Mason.
04:38 It would be a whole different running game.
04:40 It wouldn't be outside and to the left.
04:41 It would be up the middle, between the tackle, stuff you haven't shown very much.
04:44 It would be a whole different offense.
04:46 You would have the element of surprise.
04:48 It would work.
04:49 Kyle, this is the time.
04:51 You got to let Jordan Mason carry you in the second half because the Christian McCaffrey
04:54 thing isn't working anymore.
04:55 Hey, Iggy, I got this thing.
04:59 McAfee is protecting me.
05:01 I got to get rid of this.
05:02 Get out of here, McAfee.
05:03 No one asked you, McAfee.
05:04 Okay.
05:05 All right.
05:06 I don't know why McAfee came on.
05:07 All right.
05:08 Anyway, I agree.
05:09 Go ahead.
05:10 All right.
05:11 No, I agree, but there is another issue on the offense, right?
05:15 There is.
05:16 Let's do a couple of super chats and then we'll get there.
05:17 Gammon Brown says we need a hype man.
05:18 Then where is Chris Kocerec?
05:22 Hype man.
05:23 Wait a minute.
05:24 Could I say something?
05:25 Please.
05:26 This is in college.
05:27 We don't need a hype man.
05:29 We, it's not me, don't need a hype man.
05:32 We need better game plan and better performance.
05:35 Yeah.
05:36 Yeah.
05:37 Gammon Brown, thank you.
05:39 Chris Telerico, Kyle is the problem.
05:41 Has been since the Super Bowl loss.
05:42 He's the one that needs to get better and has no motivation to do so when he continues
05:46 to get extensions halfway through contracts.
05:49 I agree.
05:50 In fact, here's the thing.
05:51 They gave him an extension after the first week.
05:53 I think they should give him another extension after the ninth week.
05:56 He hasn't had an extension in a while.
05:59 He has an extension gap and I think they should give him another extension after the 13th
06:03 week.
06:04 He needs more extensions.
06:05 Yeah, he needs a little more extensions.
06:08 Security for his future.
06:09 Anoop says these Niners are in the business of football, not the business of winning Super
06:13 Bowls.
06:14 The results are self evident.
06:15 Made men have zero incentives.
06:17 A lot of made men on this team.
06:19 Yes.
06:20 Chris says Ryan's found a top 10 quarterback in eight games.
06:23 Banana hands will never.
06:25 I a the day D'Amico's one.
06:28 We're one week away from D'Amico and Kyle Shannon having the same record.
06:32 If things go a certain way that could happen.
06:35 Crystal is it Telerico or how would you how would you pronounce his last name?
06:39 Telerico Telerico.
06:41 The players are mirroring the coach and GM.
06:43 They all act like they won every Super Bowl.
06:45 They all get their extensions and don't have to produce.
06:49 I'm in.
06:50 I'm in.
06:52 That's the culture that Kyle Shanahan created.
06:54 That's the culture.
06:55 Yeah, I want you to be comfortable.
06:56 I don't want you to worry at night when you go home.
06:59 Yeah, you're made.
07:01 You're good.
07:02 The players are mirroring the coach and GM.
07:03 They all look like they won every Super Bowl.
07:05 They all get their extensions and don't have to produce.
07:06 Yeah, but at least John Lynch won a Super Bowl once.
07:09 Kyle Shanahan's never won it.
07:11 And he's in this group of people that feel like you don't have to win it to be the best.
07:14 But he didn't.
07:15 Kyle, I didn't.
07:16 John Lynch just get another extension this week.
07:18 Yeah, and a promotion.
07:20 You got a promotion.
07:21 Yeah, I, you know, I've never seen guys get promotions, extensions with a five and three
07:26 record and three losses in a row.
07:30 I'd like to get that kind of an extension.
07:33 Me too.
07:34 Henry Ross says, Lowell, will you talk about the qualities of a true head coach?
07:36 I've never seen that kind of metal in Kyle.
07:39 To me, he's an offensive coordinator who's risen beyond his skill set.
07:42 Well, that's what Grant and I have said a lot.
07:45 A true head coach, I would say Bill Walsh.
07:50 He's the one I know the best and he was the best.
07:53 I say his players feared him and so did his coaches.
07:56 He operated from fear.
07:57 And you know what?
07:58 It seemed to work for him.
07:59 In addition, he had figured out defenses and they couldn't figure out his offense for the
08:03 most part.
08:05 He was brilliant in a way, way beyond Kyle Shanahan.
08:09 Kyle Shanahan has there's so much hype and you could hear it on when the football announces
08:15 the one on Monday night football.
08:17 What's it?
08:18 The Aikman.
08:19 He's always talking about what a genius Kyle Shanahan is really based on how many Super
08:26 Bowl wins.
08:30 I got something to say.
08:31 Yeah, I'll Shanahan and Sean McVeigh are very similar.
08:34 McVeigh won one.
08:35 But to me, both of them are only as good as their assistant coaches and the and to their
08:42 credit early in their career, they put both put together really good assistant coaching
08:48 staffs because they're connected for a lot of reasons and they had success.
08:53 A lot of those assistant coaches are gone head coaches elsewhere and they're both sort
08:57 of on their own and look at him now.
09:00 Yeah, but there's a joke McVeigh's.
09:04 I mean, how creative is Sean McVeigh's offense right now?
09:06 How creative is Kyle Shanahan's offense been the last three weeks?
09:09 It's talented, but it's not creative anymore.
09:13 So JC member for 22 months.
09:15 Thank you so much.
09:16 JC says, is there a schedule for cone phone?
09:18 Feel better.
09:19 Pop a cone.
09:20 Yeah, it's a it's usually Saturdays, 10, 11 a.m.
09:23 Saturdays.
09:24 Yeah.
09:27 (upbeat music)