For the first time in forever, the San Francisco 49ers won the coin toss in Week 13 against the Cleveland Browns. Generally, the Niners defer to the second half. Not this time. Head coach Kyle Shanahan shared why he elected to receive the opening kickoff:
“Just because of the wind factor. I wanted a chance to choose to have the wind at our back in the fourth quarter, and that was the only way to get that done.”
The winds were projected to be anywhere between 25 and 35 miles per hour on Sunday in Cleveland, Ohio. It was evident from at least one quarterback that the wind affected throws down the field. Pre-game, Shanahan didn’t know how his quarterback would thrive in the elements. The decision to receive ensured the 49ers would have the wind at their back if and when the game came down to the fourth quarter:
“Yeah, that was solely just because I wanted to make sure, I mean, the way that wind is, it’s hard to throw or kick for two quarters in that game. We wanted to make sure that if we needed to win it on a last-second field goal or throw at the end of the game, that we had that in the fourth quarter if we could.”
That wasn’t a difficult decision for Shanahan. Mother Nature made the choice for him. An offensive mind with a franchise quarterback, Hall of Fame to be tight end and, running back with the ball in the two-minute drill going against the wind might not be as easy.
In the first quarter, Shedeur Sanders had an opportunity to hit Jerry Jeudy on a pass down the field. The ball carried on Sanders and the pass fell incomplete. From there, any spectator watching likely thought that’s how every pass beyond ten yards would look.
Shanahan explained whether he considered running the clock out to end the first half, and what led him to change his mind:
“A lot. It was one of the harder decisions and not fun ones for a while. Then when [QB] Brock [Purdy] hit [WR] Ricky [Pearsall] on that third down and to the sidelines, watching the ball and everything made me have some confidence that the wind had died down a little bit. So, once we got that first, we kind of said, ‘screw it and we went.’ And he made that huge play to [TE George] Kittle. It was a great catch. Then you could see higher up the wind picking up. That’s why I think it did affect that ball and the higher one and probably affected that kick with it hitting the upright also.”
Pearsall threw an out route to Pearsall that cut through the wind. That third and long conversion allowed the Niners not only to throw another out route to the sideline, but also the long pass to Kittle before the half. Those points gave the 49ers the lead, and they would never look back.
About the Author: Insidethe49
