The San Francisco 49ers have been on a tear over the last few weeks, most recently dropping 49 points in a blowout victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Monday.
San Francisco has not punted in the last two weeks, scoring 49 points last week after having 37 against the Tennessee Titans the week before.
They’ve had a couple of big games in the second half of the season, scoring 34 against the New York Giants, 41 against the Arizona Cardinals, and then the last two matchups where they’ve combined to score 86 points.
San Francisco’s running game has been much better as of late, with Christian McCaffrey going for 117 yards last week, while the pass game remains very efficient with Brock Purdy at the helm. What has led to the recent offensive surge?
“I don’t think anything in particular,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Friday. “I think the guys have been playing decent all year. I think the running game has been a lot better in the second half than it was the first half. I think we’ve done pretty well on third down throughout the year, but I’d say in this last month, I know we’ve done the best. When you do that well on third down, you get to stay on the field a lot longer, you get to run your whole offense, and first and second down become a lot stronger. I think I’d say that’s probably the number one thing.”
The run game was a serious concern early in the year, as Christian McCaffrey was one of the most inefficient backs in the league. What has changed as of late?
“I’d say that [the offensive line has improved], but I’d also say I think our receivers have really improved, our run blocking, I think our tight ends have [improved as well],” Shanahan said. “I think we get better as coaches, understanding what our group does best. But yeah, with the run game, the obvious things are always O-Line and running back, but I don’t believe in that at all. I think to have a really good running game, it’s all 11 people. You also have to have a good schem,e and you’ve got to stick with it. And I think the guys have done that.”
If the 49ers are going to make a run in the playoffs, it’ll be because of their offense. The passing game has continued to improve, despite the 49ers not being fully healthy with Ricky Pearsall dealing with an injury. And the run game is starting to show some life after struggling to get any explosives through the first half of the season.
He’s always in the race for the award, but Kyle Shanahan should be a contender for Coach of the Year once again for the work he’s done with this team and offense, given the injuries. And it’s a good sign that the offense is getting more dangerous as the most important part of the year is just around the corner.
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