–Even while going just 7-13 in his first 20 games as 49ers head coach, pretty much everything Kyle Shanahan has done has either been applauded by or gotten a pass from the critics.
Except what transpired in the final 47 seconds of the first half in the Week 4 loss to the Chargers, when the 49ers took possession of the ball at their own 25, leading 17-14.
Shanahan played it aggressively, calling three consecutive pass plays, two of which went incomplete while the third was caught and run out of bounds by Matt Breida after an eight-yard gain.
Having exhausted just 13 seconds, the 49ers punted, and then watched as Desmond King ran it back 56 yards to set up a tying field goal just before halftime.
Afterward, Shanahan was asked to explain what was perceived to be poor clock management and then not kicking out of bounds.
“I felt confident trying to go score. I don’t think we were doing anything ridiculous. We ran three normal plays,” he reasoned. “I know how big of a deal three-and-out is. I also know that if I had to do it over again, I’m going to try that. At 17-14, I think we need to score some points in this game and I think we have an opportunity to do it there.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t get the first down. So when that happens, you’ve got to punt. I did feel pretty good punting the ball with 30 seconds and them catching it at their own 12. I thought it would be very hard for them to go score. I wish the offense didn’t put the special teams or defense in that situation, but we did and now it was up to our special teams to not give up a 60-yard punt return, which they did, which really hurt us.”
So why not kick out of bounds, he was asked?
“We were just trying to hang it up there and punt it to the left,” he said. “I think it went a little bit to the right, kicked it a little bit further, so the hang time wasn’t perfect, which put the guys in a little bit tougher of a bind. But we had guys there that could have made the tackle.”
–The 49ers will be playing the Cardinals in Week 5 for the first time since new head coach Steve Wilks and new defensive coordinator Al Holcomb came over from Carolina.
They might be strangers to many in the NFC West, but surely not to Shanahan, who went up against that defensive-minded duo four times as the Falcons’ offensive coordinator in 2015 and 2016.
When asked what he expected to see from the Cardinals’ defense, Shanahan didn’t play ignorant.
“Just exactly what they did at Carolina,” he said. “Going against that … when I was in that division for two years … it’s an extremely tough, aggressive defense. They put the pressure on you. They blitz a lot. Their backers are very downhill. They present a lot of challenges with a variety of their coverages and their pressures.
“It’s always aggressive. It’s always been one of the tougher ones to go against.”
Wilks worked his way up the defensive ladder to become the Panthers’ defensive coordinator in recent years. Holcomb was the team’s linebackers coach for five years.
Shanahan’s Falcons went just 2-2 against the Panthers, enduring an embarrassing 38-0 loss with five sacks and two interceptions in their first meeting in Week 14 of 2015.
The following season, the Falcons flipped things with a 33-28 win that featured four TD passes against the same defense.
That’s the way it goes when you play that style, Shanahan insisted.
“There’s times where it’s an extremely uphill battle, whether it’s running the ball or trying to get a pass off because of how aggressive they are,” he observed. “But that also puts them in a bind, too. You’re going to get your opportunities. It’s what you make of it.”
QUOTE TO NOTE: “H3, 2Y, Knot X Go.” — 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, citing the name of the play on which tight end George Kittle caught an 82-yard touchdown in the Week 4 win over the Chargers. Asked what Bill Walsh might have called that play, Shanahan responded, “Hound Two.”
BY THE NUMBERS: 3 — The number of times the Cardinals have allowed 120 or more rushing yards in a game this season. The 49ers rank sixth in the NFL with 133.5 rushing yards per game.
