Niners Nation
Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Monday, November 11th, 2024
“But so much of the outsized impact of special teams was a result of Kyle Shanahan’s maddening conservatism. At the end of the first half, the 49ers, with three timeouts, declined two opportunities to save some clock and push for the red zone.
The preference was clearly to set up a field goal. And for those wondering about Shanahan’s desire to “lap” the other team with a score to end the half and to start it, the Buccaneers received the ball in the second half.
After Moody’s 49-yard miss, Shanahan opted to kick a field goal again on a 4th-and-5 at the Tampa 35. This time they were down four, and Moody missed from 50. It’s just incredibly rare for the 49ers to push the issue.”
“I feel pretty good,” McCaffrey said. “I thought I was going to be more sore, but we’ll see how I feel tomorrow. I never like saying anything until you wake up.”
“To be clear, nothing major happened between Samuel, Moody, and Pepper after Moody missed wide right in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, following two earlier misses wide left. No punches were thrown and it’s possible that the words exchanged were at high decibel but not very rowdy. Presumably, Deebo made his feelings about Moody’s misses quite clear to Moody as he headed to the sideline — something like, Lock in and make your kicks! — and Pepper moved in to defend his kicker with a screaming affirmation that they know what they have to do.
It’s all understandable. Moody isn’t quite a Made Man in the 49ers’ locker room after some wobbles last season, including a missed extra-point try in the Super Bowl and a miss that cost them a win in Cleveland. But this was Moody’s first game back after a stint on the injured list for a high ankle sprain. Everybody on the team sees his talent. They just want to see Moody make more field goals.”
Christian McCaffrey is back to remind the 49ers of the possibilities that still remain (paywall)
“They haven’t been that offense without McCaffrey. Sunday, they did just enough to outscore a Tampa Bay offense down its top two receivers.
But they won, so they bought more time to get where they need to be. McCaffrey, in a limited capacity, kept that hope alive with his play on Sunday. His catching out of the backfield is a wrinkle they’ve missed. His ability to make defenders miss in open space is a skill they’ve lacked. His penchant for making the big play when the play needs to be made.
“He’s got an elite aura,” Kittle said in his on-field interview after the game. “He’s just got this baller in him.”
The 49ers got a...
