Kurtenbach: The three incredible plays that show Kyle Shanahan’s genius

For years, I’m sure that you’ve heard that “Kyle Shanahan is an offensive genius”.

Week in, week out, he’s backed up that reputation, but Sunday was his single best game as in charge of the 49ers’ offense. He pulled out all the stops to beat Drew Brees and one of the best playcallers of all time, New Orleans coach Sean Payton.

I keep a folder on my computer called “Shanny Specials”, where I catalog my favorite Shanahan plays. There are a couple dozen in there — pass plays, run plays, and some plays that I legitimately have no idea why I placed in the folder (I should probably clean it up).

But there were three additions after Sunday’s 48-46 49ers win (say that three times fast) that went straight to the top of the list — plays that perfectly illustrate Shanahan’s brilliance as a playcaller.

Let’s break them down:

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The fullback option

It’s only been a few days, but the context of Sunday’s contest already seems to be fading.

But it’s important to remember how emotionally charged the first half of that game was.

The 49ers — whose defense has carried them time and time again this season — allowed four touchdowns on the first four drives of the game. There had been 44 other instances of such defensive futility this millennium, and every single time, that team lost.

But thanks to a deep touchdown throw to Emmanuel Sanders (75-yards) and Sanders’ touchdown throw to Raheem Mostert, the 49ers were poised to take the lead before the half, after which, they’d receive the first possession.

The analytics community might tell you that momentum isn’t real, but I was in the Superdome Sunday and the emotional tension of the 49ers’ final drive of the half was immense — on par with the final few minutes of that game for the ages.

And with a critical third-down deep in Saints territory — convert or kick a field goal — Shanahan a downright sick play.

It wasn’t unique, though — far from it. The play is rooted in the early days of football — the stuff they ran before the forward pass was allowed.

Oh, and the Saints also ran it earlier this season against the Bears.

They say the NFL is a copycat league. That’s taken as gospel but never really explained much. So few have any idea how true that is.

Allow me to rectify that:

Most teams are stealing from Shanahan — he’s seen as the gold standard around the NFL.

But Shanahan is stealing from everyone.

This shouldn’t make you think less of the 49ers’ head coach — no, you should think more of him. His pilfering is layered.

For instance: The 49ers’ trick-play touchdown throw, Sanders to Mostert, was sparked from a play against the Saints last year, when Carolina had Christian McCaffrey throw a touchdown pass against them on Monday Night Football.

Shanahan noted to his players that the Saints’ defense was poised to be burned again.

And when the Bills ran an orbit motion WR-to-RB touchdown pass against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, Shanahan ripped off nearly everything about that play. This is how they would burn them.

 

Now back to the fullback option.

With this play, Shanahan gave Payton a bit of his own medicine. You could see the Saints head coach smirking on the sidelines when it was done — game has to respect game.

The hero of the play, of course, is Kyle Juszczyk, who sacrifices his body for our nerdy enjoyment.

Juszczyk told me after the game in New Orleans that he was hit directly under the chin, but he was fine and was able to talk mad smack on the ground.

I’d talk it too after a play this awesome.

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The Mostert Zoom

There’s an old football axiom: “players are more important than plays”.

I subscribe to it. Anyone who watched the Niners over the last few seasons should subscribe to it, too.

But when the two are perfectly combined — when talent matches scheme — well, then you have greatness.

That’s what this play is.

In it, wide receiver Deebo Samuel comes around in orbit motion — the Saints, having been burned by that same motion earlier in the game (the Sanders touchdown pass) and knowing that Samuel is a willing and able option to run the ball, begin the play with their eyes and intent on hitting No. 19.

Big mistake.

You can see Saints defensive end Cam Jordan — unblocked on the play — gets stuck in no man’s land: is the ball going to Mostert or Samuel?

By the time he figures it out, he’s not in a position to make a play. That’s the value of “window dressing”.

Also, by the time the Saints’ great end makes a decision, he runs into left guard Laken Tomlinson, who hits him with a trap block — another classic, power-run football play that is run a lot in high school and college but has been seen as too risky to do in the NFL because the athletes on the defensive line are too good.

But the Baltimore Ravens, who are playing some classic option football with Lamar Jackson at quarterback, are running plenty of traps — pulling blocks that hit a man unblocked at the beginning of the play — this year.

Who did the 49ers play last week? The Ravens. You can’t tell me that’s a coincidence.

This play is already awesome at this juncture, but it gets even better.

This is where talent takes over.

Mostert has great blocks in front of him — Weston Richburg lays wood, Mike Person and Mike McGlinchey are double-teaming and standing up a defensive tackle, and George Kittle, getting up to the second level, is giving a poor Saints linebacker the business.

Still, this play looks destined for six, seven yards — maybe more if Mostert can break it outside. A nice first-down game.

Mostert runs it straight ahead though, even as the hole gets smaller around him. He told me after the game that the hole didn’t look small to him, but he was clearly in a zone — I won’t pretend to know what that feels like.

All he had to do was put on the jets — he runs past an unblocked linebacker, and then splits both safeties on his way to the end zone.

It was a great play in scheme and execution. This is great offensive football.

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The Kittle counter

When commentators say that a coordinator is playing “chess, not checkers” here’s what they really mean:

In checkers, moves are typically direct. One for one.

In chess, pieces are dynamic and at high levels, moves are made for the purpose of setting up another move, three, four, nine steps down the line.

And let me tell you, Shanahan was planning chess Sunday.

He threw plenty of window dressing at the Saints — all sorts of motions — and handed the ball off in all sorts of ways, including to Kittle, who came across the line of scrimmage, looking for a lane off the edge. That play — which the 49ers have run a handful of times this season to both Kittle and plenty more often to wide receivers — wasn’t all that effective Sunday, but it planted a seed in the Saints’ minds.

And then, Shanahan messed with their heads on a critical second-down play.

There’s window dressing, then there’s a department store window on Christmas. That’s this play.

This is a combination of the Mostert touchdown catch, the Mostert touchdown run, and that ill-fated Kittle run — all at the same time. It’s no wonder the Saints didn’t stand a chance.

In the play, you can see Samuel come around in orbit motion. Tomlinson — like on the touchdown run — sets up to pull to the right side and hit Cam Jordan, who isn’t biting on the motion this time. Garoppolo fakes the handoff to Mostert and then flips it to Samuel, who has space for days because Jordan committed to the inside run.

Samuel also has a lead blocker — Kittle — who was motioning in the opposite direction at the start of the play, pulling the linebackers with him, before he stops, turns around, and starts running the other way.

Kittle and a defensive back get together, but now Joe Staley is off to the races, with backup center Ben Garland haulin’ in front of him.

This is legitimately one of the coolest run plays I’ve ever seen. It’s layered in context and required elite execution. But its brilliance is in its nuance.

This is grandmaster chess.