Niners Nation
With 49ers’ Trent Williams, Ricky Pearsall not practicing, could they play vs. Eagles? (paywall)
“Perhaps even more surprising was the inactivity of Pearsall, listed as a limited practice participant all of last week. Shanahan said he did not aggravate the injured posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, which has sidelined him for eight games this season, during practices last week. Pearsall is apparently still dealing with the aggravation he suffered against the Bears, which he played through to finish with five catches for 85 yards.”
Can Shanahan’s 49ers beat his history vs. Fangio defenses in Eagles wild-card matchup? (paywall)
“In the spring of 2022, when Vic Fangio was a season removed from being fired as the Broncos head coach and Kyle Shanahan was thinking about his staff for the next season, the San Francisco 49ers head coach hosted Fangio for several offseason practices in Santa Clara.
Fangio was taking a year off from coaching. And Shanahan was correctly anticipating that his defensive coordinator, DeMeco Ryans, would land a head-coaching job after the 2022 season. That made Fangio’s practice visits, in effect, recruiting visits: Shanahan wanted to make the long-decorated coordinator who was often in the Bay Area to visit his girlfriend the next overseer of his defense.
“I wanted to be prepared,” Shanahan said. “And Vic and I were talking about that stuff a lot and hoping that could possibly work out if we did change or get a new coordinator. But I remember the day — the morning of our (NFC Championship Game) versus (the Eagles) — he signed with Miami.”…Brendel knows from first-hand experience after he spent more than four months with the Broncos in the 2019 offseason when Fangio was Denver’s head coach. Brendel said Fangio’s brilliance is in his ability to exploit offensive weaknesses and adjust his scheme on a game-to-game basis.
“He’ll look at everything possible to study on an offense, and he’ll look at every possible reason why your offense didn’t work or it did work,” Brendel said. “And then he’ll try to (tailor) his play-calling and his scheme that week based on that … Playing him, you’ve got to be ready for everything because he really can give you a Rolodex of stuff.”
After Christian McCaffrey’s historic workload, can 49ers expect his best vs. Eagles? (paywall)
“McCaffrey is 29. And at 5-11 and 210, he might be the smallest high-touches guy in recent league history, slightly smaller than another three-time touches leader, LaDainian Tomlinson.
The case could be made with stats that McCaffrey is wearing down as the season progresses. In the loss Saturday to the Seahawks, he carried eight times for 23 yards and caught six passes for 34 yards, his lowest total yardage game of the season.
And there was the Bobble, when a Brock Purdy pass deflected at the line of scrimmage bounced out of McCaffrey’s hands and into the hands of a defender, a deal-sealing interception for the Seahawks.
McCaffrey, typically, took full blame. Even though he...
