Recognize the disguise: How 49ers could get off to better start vs. Seahawks
The 49ers would have gone into halftime the last two weeks with no points if not for touchdowns coming with 17 seconds remaining in Philadelphia and 2 seconds on the clock Sunday night against Packers.
It didn’t hurt them Week 2 against the Eagles. San Francisco’s defense came through in a 17-11 victory against second-year quarterback Jalen Hurts. But that wasn’t the story against reigning MVP and future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers, who helped Green Bay take down San Francisco (2-1) by two points with a last-second field goal last week after the 49ers came back from a 17-0 deficit.
The 49ers in the first quarter of those games managed just 14 and 25 yards, respectively, with exactly one combined first down. The results of their five first-quarter possessions: five punts.
“Our whole offense, I think our sense of urgency might not have been what we needed it to be,” tight end George Kittle said Friday. “But we just didn’t execute and we didn’t convert. If you can’t stay on the field in third down, you just can’t run your whole offense, and then you’re just trying to play catch up and throwing the ball the rest of the game. That’s not really how we work.”
Kittle mentioned the need to establish the run in order to set everything else up, which has been a staple of head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense since coming to San Francisco in 2017. To his point, the 49ers have rushed for 3.1 yards per carry the last two games after losing starting running back Raheem Mostert for the season with a knee injury in the opener.
Kittle, who is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks with a calf contusion, said after Sunday night’s loss the Packers were doing things defensively the 49ers weren’t prepared for, which was a similar story to the Eagles’ approach the previous week.
Those teams disguised their looks and used tactics they didn’t put on film previously. Both teams also have new defensive coordinators this season with Jonathan Gannon in Philadelphia and Joe Berry with the Packers.
It led to the 49ers making adjustments at halftime, which seemed to work against Green Bay as San Francisco scored three touchdowns in the second half, including one from fullback Kyle Juszczyk that took the lead with 37 seconds remaining.
Kittle said the Packers did a good job of disguising whether they were playing man or zone to defend the pass, in addition to plugging the edges to slow the outside zone running scheme. The 49ers had a number of passing plays where they dialed up routes for man coverage while Green Bay slipped into zones despite showing man coverage before the snap.
For San Francisco, the antidote comes in another calling card for their offense: pre-snap motion, which the 49ers have typically used at one of the highest rates in the NFL.
“That’s why most of our stuff has motions in it,” Kittle said. “It just gives us an opportunity to see how they’re adjusting to it. You can always line up Juice (Juszczyk) outside and if there’s a linebacker that follows him out there, it’s probably man-to-man coverage.”
From a preparation standpoint, center Alex Mack pointed out that it’s still early in the season and defenses haven’t established their tendencies just yet.
“Early in the year, there’s not as much film,” Mack said. “People spent all offseason developing new stuff, they have a new staff, and things are just always evolving. So they slowly bring out more and more stuff they’ve worked on. It’s hard. Definitely as the game goes on, you get more comfortable with what they’re doing, how they’re playing.”
Kittle’s availability for Sunday could be vital for the 49ers. He didn’t practice Wednesday or Thursday before returning as a limited participant on Friday. Given how important he is to both the run and the pass, it required Shanahan to spend time this week developing separate game plans depending on if he plays.
“It’s easier if you know, right away, because then you don’t have to sit and wonder and go plan A, B, C, and D,” Shanahan said. “But you know how good of a player George is, so it’s alright we’re dealing with that. I’m going to leave out as much hope as you can until the last second to get a guy like George up.”
Shanahan said the injury isn’t a calf strain. Kittle was stepped on during one of the first two games, which has soreness and needing treatment.
“If the body says I can go,” said Kittle, “I’ll be out there.”
Another adjustment Shanahan could make to the offense wasn’t one he was thrilled to discuss this week.
Shanahan on Wednesday was peppered with questions about the use of rookie quarterback Trey Lance, who has played just seven snaps in two games (none in Week 2), after Shanahan indicated before the season Lance would have a role in the offense, similar to the way the New Orleans Saints incorporated Taysom Hill with Drew Brees. Hill last season played 43% of the Saints’ offensive snaps, though he was used as a running back and receiver in addition to quarterback.
Shanahan was asked why he wouldn’t incorporate Lance more while the offense was struggling in the first half.
“If we thought that would be the case, we’d do it,” he said.
Shanahan on Sunday had enough trust in Lance to use him during one of the most important snaps of the game, when he scored a 1-yard touchdown with two seconds left in the half. But he doesn’t trust Lance enough, just yet, to give him more of a role in the offense. At least that’s what he’s telling reporters while also making it clear gamesmanship could be at play for his upcoming opponents.
“There’s not a quarterback battle right now,” Shanahan said. “We’re going with our starting quarterback who I think is playing very well. I’m happy that he is so Trey is not thrown into any situations he has to do too early. If he ever is thrown into that, then I know Trey will deal with that and he’ll get better as it goes, but we have a luxury where we don’t have to do that yet to Trey or to our team.”
As far as the quarterback-by-committee Shanahan hinted at during the final week of the preseason when he rotated Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo against the Raiders, Shanahan said that was just to throw the Lions for a loop ahead of their match up Week 1.
“I mean, it was preseason,” Shanahan said. “It was fun to do, but it has to do with the team we’re playing the next week. It doesn’t have to do with the reactions. It has to do with how people prepare for people.”
Knowing that Shanahan’s work with Lance ahead of Week 1 was mostly about misdirection, there’s at least the possibility that’s what he’s doing again ahead of a crucial game against Seattle. Which means Lance might play more than he’s leading on. Shanahan is hoping that’s as unclear to Seahawks coach Pete Carroll as it might be to local reporters.
