49ers coach Kyle Shanahan faces former assistant now with Rams

Posted By on October 18, 2018

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay celebrates with quarterback Jared Goff (16) after a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018, in Denver. (AP Photo/Joe Mahoney)

SANTA CLARA — Kyle Shanahan helped create a monster. This Sunday, he has to face it.

The monster is the Los Angeles Rams offense.

It’s the NFL’s No. 1 offense, and it’s loaded with excellent players, such as quarterback Jared Goff, running back Todd Gurley and wide receivers Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp.

Of course, Shanahan has nothing to do with the Rams roster. But their offensive scheme evolved from him. Rams head coach Sean McVay worked under Shanahan from 2010 to 2013 when they were on the Washington Redskins. McVay was the tight ends coach, and Shanahan was the offensive coordinator. He groomed McVay, shaped his offensive philosophy.

This week, a reporter asked McVay about his experience in Washington with Shanahan.

“I wouldn’t really say it was a give and take,” McVay explained on a conference call. “I would say it was more me taking information from him, and him giving. The way he prepared was so impressive. The way he saw the game. His ability to make (runs and play-action passes) look the same. His ability to attack defensive structures and rules and manipulate things. He’s a great coach.”

McVay was merely 24 when Washington hired him in 2010. Shanahan was 31. Shanahan already had been an offensive coordinator for two seasons with the Houston Texans. He was Yoda compared to McVay.

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This article has 129 Comments

    1. as htwaits would probably note …
      “… And now … the padawan .. becomes the master … he does …”

  2. It is interesting to note that Goff was inept, Gurley under performed and the Rams won 4 games in 2016.
    .
    Then Fisher was fired and McVay was hired. They did not have a first round pick, but went on to have an 11-5 season.
    .
    So, with basically the same team, they went from a 4 win team to an 11 win playoff team. What was the critical factor? The coaching.

    1. Pretty much same situation Harbaugh walked into years ago although the Rams have a much better QB…. Gurley doesn’t hurt either (no offense Gore).

      1. Goff did not reach the SB after only 10 games, and does not have a 4-2 road playoff record.
        .
        McVay sure has also benefited from having a competent DC.

        1. HaHaHA!!!!!!!!!

          Time for a 7&7 with Sebs!!!!!!!!

          Nor has Goff stunk his last 3 yrs in the NFL, let alone months………………where’s those stats, SEB????

          Should have been a reporter……………………..”fake news” all day long…………………

          1. Saw, you really are delusional.
            .
            Goff did not start out well. In fact, He started out 0-7, with a 63.6 QBR, in 2016.

  3. Looks like the roles have reversed, and the student has become the master.
    .
    May have been beginner’s luck, but McVay caught that fly with his chopsticks.

    1. “…. Looks like the roles have reversed, and the student has become the master.
      . …”

      ( is there an echo in here … or what ? )

    2. Student has become the master……????

      No, Sebs. Just…No.

      He deserves “master” when he can beat yours with his, or beat his with yours.

      Your hate for Shanny is expressing itself.

      1. Hate? No. I just want KS to improve. I have not called on him to be fired. I know he is in the second year of a 6 year contract.
        .
        KS hired JM, hence the master/student status. JM is 6-0. KS is 1-5. That is where the student becomes the master, dynamic is exemplified.

  4. https://mobile.twitter.com/eric_crocker/status/1052618401925935104/photo/1

    “Diggs runs comeback.. Ahkello reads it down perfectly… Cousins starts to move now the scramble drill is on.. Ahkello gives up zero separation”

    “The TD catch to Diggs was the only catch Ahkello gave up that game.. Thielen runs bench route.. zero separation.”

    “Not sure if Vikings thought they had something but they came back to it with Thielen. Inside release.. runs deep corner.. tight coverage.. incomplete”

    “Lions come back to it.. again Stafford stares it down.. this time Ahkello makes adjustment..anticipates better.. squeezes on speed turn.. Stafford has to pull ball down and scrambles for a couple yards”

    “Really nice release and route by Marvin Jones. This play shows why I liked Ahkello coming out.. very fluid at 6’3″.. quick feet good hips.. receiver got in his blind spot.. makes Ahkello speed turn.. closes on out.. goes up.. slightly tug.. starts from a trail. closes. incomplete”

    1. There was an old saying back in the day: “The Army has the best food in the world….until the cooks get a hold of it”. Can’t help but wonder if our coaches aren’t doing the same thing to our young (and not so young) players. I know the draft is a crap shoot but it’s either that or we’re rolling loaded dice.

    2. Yeah, Crocker breaks it down really well. As you will also see, he basically credits the TD to Diggs to the throw and catch, as discussed previously.

      I really have no idea why he hasn’t been playing. Maybe its the injury. Maybe the blown coverage on Golloday and potentially blown coverage on Gates are factors. But he is clearly the best cover CB on the team not named Sherman.

      1. The biggest deal for Witherspoon is that with the addition of Sherman he has become the marked man for the opposition and unless he can start making plays they won’t stop.

        Throw in the fact that the level of competition so far has been at a much higher level than he faced last season and all of this makes sense.

        All of that being said, after this week the next 3 opponents don’t feature the offensive firepower so he could very well begin to show “improvement”.

        Bottom line, we went into this season saying that the guy opposite Sherman was going to get tested and needed to show up big.

        That hasn’t happened so far.

        1. “Throw in the fact that the level of competition so far has been at a much higher level than he faced last season and all of this makes sense.”

          Yes, it does make sense. It is something I touched on during the offseason for both Spoon and Colbert. Expecting them to play at a high level consistently at this point in their careers, with so little NFL exposure, was highly optimistic. And yes, the competition they faced last season was a factor in their good performance.

      2. “Maybe the blown coverage on Golloday and potentially blown coverage on Gates are factors.”

        I think that’s it, although the injury doesn’t help. KS may have sat Spoon to challenge him. KS has since said that Spoon has practiced well. Sure that may have been coach speak, but he said the same thing about Mostert who played well Monday night.

        Something else Crocker mentioned was that perhaps Spoon is lacking in confidence. Both KS and Sherm complimented Spoon on his week of practice.

        2. I wouldn’t be surprised if his confidence is a little dented. Maybe that was also patly why they haven’t played him. Worried about the potential long term harm of getting picked on while his confidence is down. But at the same time, if that is the case (and not saying it is), it would then be worrying that his ego is so fragile.

            1. I don’t know the guy and tbh haven’t heard or seen him interviewed to get any sort of idea what his personality is like.

  6. Whine Country, Lets get real here: Jeff Fischer sucked as a head coach! Everyone stacked the box against them! There offense was like the Cowboys: Generic and predictable. They have a bunch of top 1st round picks on their roster and then a guy like McVay comes in, and like Grant pointed out in the article, played to their strengths. He is creative and inventive, keeps Defenses on their heels. They have way more weapons and talent than the 49ers. This isn’t because of KS “ruining” young players and not coaching them to their abilities. He has had two draft classes and not enough interested free agents at this point. McVay is like Harbaugh walking into the 49ers loaded talent, lack of proper utilization, a load of top flight free agents to push this juggernaut. I also don’t think they can sustain this level of dominancy because of the cap. They have so many big contracts on the books. They will eventually end up like Seattle. They are in “win now” mode, so they can sell PSL’s at their new stadium. I know that JL/KS haven’t impressed us with their first round picks yet, but they have really gotten some talent in late round. We are rebuilding, and without our “deodorant” as Grant put it (Jimmy G) we are a bit exposed. With that said, the only terrible game this year was versus the Cardinals. Shanny has kept us in every game. I know he hasn’t closed, but that’s because he has a back up QB in the game. See wins and losses with Jimmy G versus without, its obvious what the missing factor is and it cannot all be put on the coach. Lets respect what he is doing with what he has.

    1. Yea, it’s pretty easy when looking at the most important stat to see where the problem with the team lies… Things we could blame Shanahan for are hiring Saleh, penalties and perhaps TOs… Aside from that Shanahan and the Jimmy G-less Niners are still competing with a banged up offense despite a healthy liability defense:

      Points scored: 13th (tied with GB)
      Points given up: 29th

      Case closed.

      1. It alway amazes me how how quickly people forget things like the Rams stockpiling of high draft picks thanks, in part, to a decade worth of ineptitude, as well as the bounty of picks they acquired from Washington in return for the rights to draft RG3. I wouldn’t put the RG3 trade in the same category as the Herschel Walker trade, which catapulted the Cowboys into the perineal Super Bowl contender they were in the 1990’s, but it’s not far behind.

        The 49ers on the other hand, had fairly recently been to back-to-back NFC Championship games, and a Super Bowl, prior to Kyle’s arrival. Therefore, unlike the Rams, the 49ers hadn’t been stockpiling a bunch of recent top 5 and top 10 draft picks, and perhaps most importantly of all, unlike McVay, Kyle didn’t inherit a young, franchise QB (and #1 overall draft pick) or a super star RB who happened to fit his offensive scheme.

        ESPN’s Nick Wagoner did a nice piece on this same subject

        http://www.espn.com/blog/san-francisco-49ers/post/_/id/32694/inside-the-dynamic-plays-and-schemes-built-by-shanahan-and-mcvay

        1. The fact of the matter is that McVay took over a team loaded with young, blue chip talent like Goff, Gurley and Donald, just to name a few, while Kyle took over a dumpster fire of a roster, bogged down with overdrafted & underdeveloped young players, as well as number of veterans who well their prime vets. It was widely known that McVay inherited a roster filled with talented underachievers, while Kyle inherited a roster devoid of talent at nearly every position, save for a couple of high draft picks along the interior of their defensive line.

          It’s really impossible to compare the 2 head coaches in terms of recent success because they inherited vastly different rosters in vastly different stages of development. Not to take anything away from McVay because he’s done a fantastic job with the Rams, but he also inherited a much, much better roster. McVay inherited an golden opportunity similar to the golden opportunity of which Jim Harbaugh inherited when he took over as the 49ers HC. However, even that isn’t a wholy valid comparison for a number of reasons. For one, Harbaugh was handcuffed during his first offseason with the 49ers because of the lockout, and while the 49ers roster was certainly brimming with talent overall, Harbaugh did inherit a seemingly broken “franchise” QB in Alex Smith, whom the majority of 49er fans had already given up on, including myself. On top of that, there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the organization in terms of where they would be calling home in the coming years, while in McVay’s case, all of the heavy lifting in terms of relocation had already been handled prior to his arrival.

    2. Let’s hope your right. From what I can see, the 49ers coaching staff has not taken one player to the next level to the point where they can make a difference. A few players have flashed and then gone underground. We hear about a whole lot of potential, but week after week, other than Jimmy G, who has stepped up other than Goodwin and maybe Kittle. Certainly no one on the defense. KS is celebrated as the ultimate X and O guy but the theme is constantly that the players cannot execute and often make dumb mistakes. I’m feeling more and more like Elvis….I’d like a little less conversation and a little more action. Try to remember, what we all think about KS is meaningless as long as he has a 6 year contract. He either delivers or goes the way of his predecessors.

  7. So far, McVay’s most significant accomplishment has been exposing Jeff Fisher as one of the worst long term head coaches in NFL history. Fisher coached 22 years and the only success his teams ever had was when he had enough talent to overcome his abysmal coaching. In 22 years of coaching in the NFL, Fisher had 6 winning seasons. Fisher was absolutely awful and the NFL is better off without him on the competition committee.

    2. Fisher had some pretty good teams with McNair, but his time with the Rams was really eye opening as far as how much a HC can hold back a team. The change in the offense in one year was incredible.

      1. Without looking, does anyone remember who the Rams’ offensive coordinator was in 2016? I had to look.

      2. Rob Boras. Had to look it up. Ridiculous that they would take a QB #1 overall and not get him a real OC.

    3. When a nuclear explosion rids the world of humanity, there will only be Jeff Fisher organizing a group of 53 cockroaches into a 7-9 insect football team, all the while he will be making excuses for his incessantly boring brand of cockroach football – 3 yards and a trail of cockroach droppings.

  8. “Meaning both coaches evolved to suit the strengths of their rosters.”

    I would say McVay evolved to enhance his rosters immense talent. Shanahan on the other hand has been forced to evolve due to injury and a lack of talent. The lack of talent can be attributed to poor personnel decision making which has plagued the team for many years.

  9. No one is talking about Les Snead and the job he has done putting together the roster for the rams.

    1. You can do a lot of maneuvering when your QB is on a rookie deal and your previous HC helped by setting you up with high draft picks.

    2. EC,

      Good point. The trades they made this offseason to get Peters, Cooks and Talib, along with signing Suh as a FA were huge. Not only that, but they will wind up getting two 3rd round compensatory picks because the acquisitions they made didn’t count against the formula for FA. Everything came together nicely for them.

      1. Exactly! They were handed a bevy of picks but then Shanahan and Lynch had a bunch of picks too as well as a lot of money to play around with.

        Not saying the two situations are the same but in fairness, I think McVay and Co. have handled their situation superbly. They have created a roster and FO that has experience and young talent and leveraged it extremely well. Kudos to the Rams! (Though I hate them)!

  10. Hey, McCoy is available, if the Niners want to hire a new OC for their elegant tank……;p
    .
    Looks like Rosen was thrown to the wolves, and is getting the AS treatment.
    .
    Goff almost got the same treatment, but McVay drafted 2 O linemen, and fixed the pass protection woes.
    .
    I do not think this game will be a blowout, if the Niners can be prepared adequately, and they play disciplined football.
    .
    KS needs to become more unpredictable, since each coach has good intel on each other.
    .
    Niners 24-23.

    1. Denver held the Rams to 23 points. I can’t believe that Saleh can match that, especially with one less day to prepare. Rams put up 33 points or more against some pretty good defenses in their other games. You must be predicting that the Rams will take the day off this Sunday. Good luck with that.

      1. I am counting on the pass rush getting to Goff, and the Niner running game controlling the clock.
        .
        Maybe the Niner defense can manage a turnover, too.
        .
        Of course, the Niners cannot give the ball away, either on offense or ST.

  11. Ahkello Witherspoon’s struggles this season were about as predictable as the slow start for the team overall.

    In his starts last year he faced a lot of mediocre to bad QB’s.

    Drew Stanton
    Mitch Trubisky
    Savage/Yates
    Sean Mannion

    Etc.

    1. I asked prior to the season if Ahkello Witherspoon was this years Rashard Robinson and most guys on this board scoffed at that notion. Looks to me right now like Robinson would be an upgrade over Witherspoon.

      1. Disagree with you on Robinson being an upgrade. Perhaps they should have let the situation with Tramaine Brock play itself out like they did with Foster.

        Colbert is another guy in the secondary who benefited from playing lousy QB’s late last year.

        1. Perhaps you’re right about Brock Jack, but ShanaLynch were in the unenviable position of cleaning up the 49ers poor-look public relations at that time. It was particularly bad timing for Brock.

          And Brock hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire since he was released. In fact, the Seahawks signed him and then realized he was a poor scheme fit for their defense, promptly trading him to the Vikings for a 7th round pick before he even played a single regular season game for the Seahawks. Brock failed to impress in Minnesota as well, so they let him walk after 1 lackluster season.

          Now Tremaine is listed as a backup for the Broncos.

    2. Maybe the Cards can trade us a Cardboard cut out of Patrick Peterson we can start against the Rams.

    3. As the breakdown by Eric Crocker shows (linked by 80 earlier), the struggles are a bit overblown. He’s had some ugly gaffes, but he’s also held up really well in coverage a lot of times too. What we are seeing is a young guy learning his trade.

  12. Robinson at his best was better than Witherspoon at his best and I don’t think it’s close. Inconsistency will end both of their careers. Robinson because I don’t think he has the mental makeup to be an NFL player and Witherspoon because I don’t think he has the self confidence to be an NFL CB. Some players can fake the right attitude but eventually the self doubt always surfaces in guys who lack confidence.

    1. “Some players can fake the right attitude but eventually the self doubt always surfaces in guys who lack confidence.”

      This was actually brought up by Maiocco the other day in an interview on KNBR regarding Witherspoon.

  13. It would be hard for me to bash players with 1-2 years in the league.
    If that we’re the case, Goff (one example among many) would still be riding the bench.

    Witherspoon did well enough last season to earn the starting position regardless of which QB’ he went up against. He didn’t choose the competition.
    Sure, he’s not having a good campaign to this point but it’s Shanahan’ call to continue to play him.

    Perhaps Colbert will go the way of Sol Thomas and play the rotation game.
    I happen to believe that the entire secondary would have greatly benefited if we had an effective EDGE this season, but that will be taken care of next season.

    1. “It would be hard for me to bash players with 1-2 years in the league.”

      And Colbert and Spoon have been playing hurt.

    2. If Fisher was still the HC in LA the likelihood that Goff would have been benched by now is probably high because he wouldn’t be having the success that he has the last year plus.

      With regards to Witherspoon, stating that the struggles of Witherspoon and Colbert should have been expected isn’t bashing them. It’s pretty much just a matter of fact. The coaching staff said as much by starting Ward on Monday night and then sending Mabin in when Ward went down.

      1. The struggles of Witherspoon and Colbert very much should have expected, or at least that there was a strong possibility of it. I really thought they should’ve brought in another vet CB and moved Ward back to FS. Made Witherspoon and Colbert compete for the jobs.

        I still think Spoon will be fine. He’s taking the lumps now he should have taken last year. But you can see the talent is there. He decisively wins a lot of his snaps. Colbert on the other hand I am not sold on.

        1. Ward can’t stay healthy at CB let alone FS. He will no longer be on the team next year. Colbert is the backup for a real FS. I’d expect them to go hard after Thomas next year….

          1. Yes, we all know Ward is injury prone. Doesn’t matter what position he plays. But they should have left him at FS and let he and Colbert duke it put for the starting spot rather than just handing it to Colbert.

            Assuming Thomas isn’t tagged, he would be a great addition next year.

        2. I’m with Scooter on this one. Spoon has the size and skill, he just needs to play which is what is perplexing right now. If he’s injured fine, but he was on ST’s so he should be playing corner too.

        3. The struggles of Witherspoon and Colbert very much should have expected, or at least that there was a strong possibility of it.

          The main problem with Witherspoon and Colbert is that the concerns that each one was tabbed with in hisdraft profile or were stated by analysts are happening at the pro level. Witherspoon is inconsistent, and Colbert honestly cannot be counted on.

          1. One of the issues with Witherspoon that was noted in his draft profile was that he didn’t play a lot of football before college. He was still relatively inexperienced, which helps explain some of the inconsistency. He’s also still started less than a full season of games. Inconsistency should be expected. He’s a smart guy, so I expect that will improve. His athleticism is top notch, and when he gets it right you can see he has all the tools to be very good.

            A lot of the same arguments can be made for Colbert. He was injured so often in college, and played so little as a DB, that his experience at FS is quite limited so inconsistency is expected. FS is more of a cerebral position though, and really needs guys that are good decision makers and read the play well. Maybe Colbert develops that side of his game, but for now he’s a guy relying more on his athletic gifts at a position where he needs to use his smarts more. The fact he never really took a significant safety role in college makes me question whether he will develop the requisite skills to be a full time starter.

            Both guys need to be getting as much exposure as possible. The natural, physical talent is there for both.

              1. I don’t think so. Robinson’s issue physically is that he isn’t a good mover laterally and gets himself into trouble if the receiver puts a move on him. Williams has the feet to stick with the WR.

              2. Scooter, I should have been more specific. Robinson: 6′-1″ 176 lbs. Williams: 6′-3″ 183 lbs. I’m worried about their size similarity in that both guys are beanpoles….

              4. I know what you were getting at, I just intentionally didn’t take the bait :-)

                I don’t believe Robinson’s weight was the reason he failed. A bit more weight would have been nice, but he still would have had the same civerage issues. So I don’t see it as a big issue. Physically, Williams is the superior athlete due to his quick feet which provides him the ability to mirror.

            2. Agree 100% with Scooter. I’m steadily losing confidence in Saleh. His scheme maybe sound and he may be teaching all the right things to the players, but his player development and ability to put them in a position to succeed is highly questionable.

              2. This argument assumes that players in their 2nd season that have limited experience should be playing consistently high quality football.

                As I have said, inconsistency and mistakes should be expected to some degree. If these guys are still making heaps of silly mistakes at the back end of the season I will agree the coaching is a problem. As to whether it is Saleh or the position coaches, or both, I would have no idea.

                What I will say re Saleh is that I am not a fan of some of personnel decisions he makes on a down to down basis. Especially with the DL. Having Mitchell out there on 3rd down passing situations (as he has done some weeks) is baffling to me. Leaving Mabin 1-on-1 against Adams last week at the end of the game was heroic confidence in Mabin’s ability.

              3. Scooter
                I’m not sure if your comment was intended to be a repose to mine. I’m in agreement with you. I don’t expect second year players to play at a high level. I just don’t expect the DC to pull young, talented players indefinitely every time they have a bad game (or even get burnt in part of the game). It affects their development negatively.

        4. Jack Hammer

          I’m still amazed that Ward even gets a uniform…Maybe Harris and Moore will get some play against the Rams…get some ‘trade’ out of Thomas, ward, and Celek….

      1. Chubb made Hyde expendable.
        I expected Chubb to garner the majority of the carries by the second half of the season at any case.

        Hyde seems to be an Alfred Morris type player that will morph into a fill-in guy that bounces around the league.
        I’m glad he is still playing but would tell him not to unpack his suitcase.

      1. Maybe a bad sign in the short term for Fournette but in the long term I think it’s a bad sign for Yeldon.

    1. There was a reference above to Fisher and the fact he almost ruined Goff’s career by not having a good OC and scheme in place. The Cards look like they are well on their way to ruining Rosen.

    2. Another HC with defensive background who has no offensive philosophy relevant to modern NFL and hence no idea of how to choose (or attract) an up-and-coming offensive mind as an OC. Add two more of ex-DC’s soon-to-be ex-HCs: Vance Joseph and Sean McDermott.

        1. I’d take McDermott as DC in a heartbeat if Saleh gets the ax.

          “I’m a big believer in fundamentals and techniques, I’m a big believer in character.”

          -Sean McDermott

  16. I heard on one of those talk shows Niners’ Person-of-interest has been PFF-graded to be in the middle of the pack among starting guards. Right behind him is the most expensive guard this past FA, Andrew Norwell, followed by the can’t-miss draft prospect, Quenton Nelson….

    2. PFF actually has Person ranked the #11 OG. Tomlinson is #18. The Glinch is #8 ranked OT and Staley #17.

      4/5 of the starting OL ranked in the top third of their position. The OL is playing very well, and the PFF ranks reflect it.

      2. Scooter,
        What I heard may have been based on earlier PFF grades.
        The offense has definitely made progress this season, even with backups at various positions. The running game is beginning to hum. Cossell says that Kyle has opened up his entire playbook to Beathard at the helm.

    3. I look back on training camp a few months ago when Grant posted several videos of 9er offensive linemen performing very, very, very badly in drills…or so he concluded.

      1. If he didn’t have something to throw shade on it probably wouldn’t feel right for him.

      2. Or equally, many here were counting on great strides made by many players who were good/decent last year.

        Prognostications are always a fools errand. Nevertheless, we sports fans and writers always delve into those murky waters.

  18. Rashard Robinson has decent pass coverage skills.
    .
    The problem with RR was that he was undisciplined. He would jump offside, commit a personal foul or holding penalty, or something else that negated a third down stop, so the opponent would continue their drive.
    .
    Witherspoon just cannot turn around and locate the ball. He was known in college as a light tackler, so his run defense is suspect.
    .
    Maybe the Niners should pull a page out of the Bill Walsh playbook, and start a couple rookies. DJ Reed and Tarvarius Moore should be considered. Mabin got burnt so much, his new name is Kingsford.

  19. Am not even pressed…its the freaking rams… we always beat the rams…….chalk this in the win column……close game we win by 3

  20. May have been noted earlier… Ram’s will be Kuppless when they take the field.

  21. Sitting down with a cup o’ joe, thinking about this upcoming game, this Niner defense needs to win this game.
    .
    If they can stop Gurley, they can make Goff one dimensional. Of course, Goff may carve up the CB not named Sherman, but I hope the Niner pass rush will pressure Goff into making hurried throws. Maybe put K’waun Williams opposite Sherman.
    .
    I hope to see more delayed blitzes up the middle, so Goff, like Aaron Rodgers did, cannot run up the middle untouched for 20 yards.
    .
    If the Niner defense can keep the score down, the Niners have a chance.
    .
    On offense, I hope KS will roll CJB out of the pocket, away from Donald. CJB should attack the edges, and target the receiver Sam Shields is covering. They should take advantage of the Ram’s defensive speed by doing counters, misdirection and reverses. Establishing the running game will make the play action passes more effective, and keep the ball out of Goff’s hands.
    .
    There is no margin for error, so I hope the Niners play smart, focused, energized and disciplined.
    .
    I hope the coaches go bold, and do not settle for field goals. KS should consider time outs to be precious, and saved for legitimate challenges and the last 2 minutes of each half. I hope he does not use one in a way that may help the Rams. KS will need to out think JM, if he wants to win.

    2. Cup o’ joe… How quaint, and picturesque. Why not just go for the narcotics?

      Go bold… Another cliche. How about getting rid of the punter and kicker–go super bold? Fill their slots with real football players. Always go for two point conversions. Always go on 4th down. Have one player take on kick-off duties as an aside, but only attempt hard-to-field squib kicks.

        1. Cassie, you are so predictable.
          .
          Maybe you did not notice, but I did not mention that the Niners should refrain from beating themselves. That is because the Niners should try hard to keep the Rams from easily beating them.
          .
          Last game, Goodwin did exactly what I wrote. He caught the ball over the middle, and fell to the ground so he would not be bludgeoned by the safety.

        1. sebnynah says:
          August 21, 2017 at 11:53 am

          The 49ers should go bold. Fire wormtongue (Paraag), promote Joan, from payroll, rehire Nolan & Tomsula, and petition the NFL to let Mike wear his sideline suits like his father. The fact that this NFL attire was controversial from the beginning shows their cooperate office has little to no work…Send Marathe there to stir it up. He could leak information about Kaep and Shanahan would get him back to lead us to the SuperBowl.

          We need players with quick hips reading copies of Sun Tzu’s, The Art of War, while running pass patterns. Those who successfully multitask make the team, the others, locked in mortal combat while the 53 man roster watches to toughen up.

          I know about tough. I once took a punch in the jaw from a dumba$$ at a party and continued drinking my Sprite.

          We also need help for our airial attack. Lately I’ve been focused on pigeons and ducks. We should employ their strategey:

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bw0K-oZSL0

          1. TrollD, still fantasizing about breaking into gun lockers and creating nightmares.
            .
            Please seek help.

      1. I am already done. My harvest was sparse this year because 3 out of 6 of my Querkle turned male. :(

  23. Pryor released by the Jets. If his groin injury turns out to be not that serious, he might be worth bringing in what with how banged up the 49ers receiving corps is.

    1. Can’t wait for old Harbs to play OSU and get exposed for a coach who can’t win the big game.

      1. That D is something else and Patterson makes just enough plays. Penn State is going to be a real challenge with that QB.

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