Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
49ers’ head coach continued to adjust throughout the game vs. Saints that allowed San Francisco to breakthrough and win.
There are many elite play-callers currently in the NFL, from the Chiefs’ Andy Reid to Patriots’ Josh McDaniels to Saints’ Sean Payton to Eagles’ Doug Pederson. The unique part about these offensive coaches is that they are versatile and will tailor their offense to what opposing defenses present each week.
49ers’ head coach Kyle Shanahan’s bread and butter is the zone-running scheme, paired with a strong play-action passing attack with slight variations on top of that. With such a simple offensive philosophy, Shanahan has developed a complex offensive scheme that’s allowed the 49ers’ offense to be like a chameleon and adapt multiple times against the Saints.
On Sunday, San Francisco was in a shootout in New Orleans, and Shanahan had to dig deep into his bag of tricks to keep up with Payton, quarterback Drew Brees and the Saints’ high-octane scoring attack.
Facing a DVOA-rated top-10 defense, Shanahan could not simply run the same plays and expect the same results. With each drive, the Saints’ defense continued to take away an aspect of the 49ers’ offense, but Shanahan was one chess move ahead, continually finding a different concept that was effective.
Shanahan made not one, not two, not three — but FOUR key adjustments that allowed their offense to put up 48 points and over 500 yards of total offense on a superior defense that features
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