Field Gulls
The Seattle Seahawks–San Francisco 49ers rivalry adds another postseason chapter in the NFC Divisional Round, and the context can be very different from the lifeless performance San Francisco showed against Seattle in Week 18. In the Wild Card Round, Kyle Shanahan has adjusted both his offense and the way he protects his defense — something that was evident in the win over the Philadelphia Eagles — and that changes the puzzle Mike Macdonald and the Seahawks defense now have to solve. It will also be a challenge for Klint Kubiak, who is highly sought after by teams without a head coach.
Against the Eagles, Shanahan effectively acknowledged that his offense had become predictable. The first change was a reduced reliance on pure wide zone. The run game incorporated more gap concepts such as duo, counter, and split-flow variations, forcing linebackers to read blocks honestly instead of simply chasing lateral flow. That created more vertical runs and reduced negative plays.
The second adjustment was a return to a more disciplined marriage between run and pass. The offense leaned heavily on under-center play-action, using concepts that attack the second level — over routes, sail, and late tight end leaks — constantly putting linebackers in conflict. The 49ers quarterback had cleaner reads and faced fewer pure dropback situations, something that had been an issue against Seattle previously.
That’s why Kyle Shanahan needs to be respected. His adaptability and repertoire are incredible. Furthermore, the Week 18 loss must still be fresh in his mind. Imagine that not even Nick Mullens, Jimmy Garoppolo, Trey Lance, or even Brian Hoyer had the numbers from that game.
Another of Shanny’s adaptations was using Kyle Juszczyk to receive passes, since he had been used primarily as a blocker and was being sidelined by defenses. It was a way to keep the offense moving.
He likes to show off his tendencies just to catch the defense off guard a few snaps later. In this play, notice that there are two routes to cover for Devon Witherspoon: the checkdown and the dig. Riq Woolen communicates well, passes the dig to Spoon and defends the checkdown.
Again, he puts two routes on Spoon. The CB hesitates and spends more time watching the checkdown, creating space behind him for the reception. One of the few lapses in the Seahawks’ defense in this game.
Here he opens his entire toolbox. Notice how the backfield action of multiple handoffs causes the #32, who would be responsible for covering CMC, to hesitate and leave the RB open for the important TD.
One way to overcome this is with discipline. Don’t try to do more than you should, not for lack of effort, but to avoid creating an unexpected opening that will inevitably be exploited by Shanny.
For the Seahawks defense, they need maintain absolute edge discipline. Shanahan punished undisciplined contain with bootlegs and misdirection looks against Philadelphia. Seattle must be willing to concede short...
