Bill Belichick could be the perfect fit for 49ers’ defensive coordinator opening

With an opening at the defensive coordinator spot, could the 49ers target one of the greatest coaches of all time?

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It was a little surprising that the San Francisco moved on from well-respected and consistently good defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. It’s easy to point the finger at Wilks for the frustrations of the Super Bowl and make him a scapegoat when really there was so much more that went into the loss, but that’s another discussion. The 49ers now find themselves with a pretty big hole in their defensive coaching staff, one that is latent with potential to field the best defensive unit in 2024. Could the greatest coach of all time perhaps fill the role and set himself up for one heck of a rebound?

Former New England Patriots head coach and future hall of famer Bill Belichick might just be the coach that can help put this Super Bowl-losing team on the other side of the aisle, the one that comes with rings and a fancy trophy. Given the enormous amount of talent that San Francisco boasts on the defensive side of the ball with stars littered across every position, and Bill Belichicks history as a defensive mastermind, this might be a match made in heaven.

One position Belichick has always been enamored with is versatile linebackers. From the likes of Jerod Mayo (his replacement in New England ironically enough), Dont’a Hightower, Tedy Bruschi, Jamie Collins, etc etc. it’s clear that he gets the most out of versatile linebackers. The 49ers boast the best linebacking duo in the league behind the force that is Fred Warner and Drew Greenlaw, who could be the rock of a Belichick lead defense. On the defensive line it’s easy to see Belichick getting the most of the likes of Nick Bosa, Chase Young, and Arik Armstead. It’s almost scary to think of the amount of weapons you would be handing to the best defensive coach of a generation should he land in San Francisco.

The big question might be could Belichick slow down the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and the other super elite quarterbacks in the league. Though realistically there aren’t many defensive coaches who have been able to accomplish that outside of the defensive coordinator on the same team as Patrick Mahomes.

Nothing is certain when it comes to hirings but this seems like such a slam dunk hire and one that has to have crossed the minds of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch. The only remaining question mark would be if Belichick himself would want to take the demotion and return to his roots as a defensive coordinator.

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Super Bowl LVIII recap edition

Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar review Super Bowl LVIII between the Chiefs and 49ers as only they can in this week’s “Xs and Os.”

Now that Super Bowl LVIII is in the books, and the Kansas City Chiefs have established themselves as the NFL’s nest dynasty with their 25-22 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers, it’s time for Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire and the USA Today Sports Media Group, to review everything as only they can with copious tape study and advanced metrics.

Among the topics discussed in this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar”:

  • Steve Spagnuolo’s shocking man-blitz plan.
  • How Trent McDuffie made that deflection with 2:00 left in regulation.
  • Was Chris Jones robbed of a Super Bowl MVP award for the second time in four years?
  • Why Spags went so heavy with nickel, and Cover-0 stuff.
  • Why Brock Purdy wasn’t the reason the 49ers lost.
  • Was Dre Greenlaw’s injury a major factor in the game or not?
  • How were the Chiefs able to spot man coverage on Travis Kelce’s huge fourth-quarter catch?
  • How Patrick Mahomes showed his development as a quarterback at the most important points of his season…
  • …and why Mahomes’ biggest throw in the Super Bowl was the one he never should have attempted.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

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You can listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

and on Apple Podcasts.

4-Down Territory: Super Bowl LVIII recap edition

Now that Super Bowl LVIII is in the books, and the Chiefs are the repeat champions, Doug Farrar and Kyle Madson break it down in “4-Down Territory.”

Now that Super Bowl LVIII is in the books, and the Kansas City Chiefs are the first team to repeat as champs since the 2003-2004 New England Patriots, it’s time for Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire, and Kyle Madson of Niners Wire, to review the biggest game of the season in  “4-Down Territory.”

This week, the guys have some serious questions to answer:

  1. What does this loss do to Kyle Shanahan, as we have to add it to the other Super Bowl losses?
  2. How might we look at Andy Reid differently now that he has three Lombardi Trophies in five years?
  3. Is Patrick Mahomes the greatest quarterback ever? And if not, what’s the argument against it?
  4. Finally, where do the Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers go from here?

You can watch this week’s “4-Down Territory” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “4-Down Territory” podcast on Spotify…

and on Apple Podcasts.

49ers fire defensive coordinator Steve Wilks

Kyle Shanahan has fired 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks

San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan announced Wednesday that he has fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.

Wilks lasted one season in San Francisco after he was an interim head coach for the Carolina Panthers last season. Wilks was the Arizona Cardinals head coach in 2018.

The Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII blitz plan was very risky, but perfectly done

The Chiefs’ blitz concepts against Brock Purdy in Super Bowl LVIII went completely against type — and worked more often than they didn’t.

Going into Super Bowl LVIII, the Kansas City Chiefs and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo knew one thing about San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy: Throughout the 2023 NFL season, Purdy had ripped opposing defenses to shreds when they blitzed him. Purdy had 101 completions in 150 attempts for 1,534 yards, 701 air yards, 15 touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 128.6. The Chiefs had sent five or more pass-rushers on 208 opponent attempts, fourth-most in the NFL. And on those 208 attempts, opposing quarterbacks completed 112 passes for 1,122 yards, eight touchdowns, three interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 76.2.

Perhaps more interestingly, the Chiefs blitzed just 81 times on opponent passing attempts pre-Super Bowl with man coverage behind it, allowing 33 completions for 360 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 56.6. But against five or more pass-rushers with man coverage, Purdy had been even better, completing 40 of 64 for 806 yards, 404 air yards, six touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 137.5.

So, this was best on best coming into the Super Bowl, which makes you think that Spagnuolo might not send a ton of man blitzes in the biggest game of the season.

Au contraire, mon frere.

Against the Chiefs’ man blitzes, Purdy completed 11 of 21 passes for 149 yards, his one touchdown, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 91.2. Not bad, but not the Purdy we’ve seen against these concepts through the season.

Why did this work for the Chiefs? They were brilliant when it came to presenting Purdy with pressure and coverage concepts that didn’t really make sense, but worked even when the 49ers had answers.

The Chiefs ran a zero blitz with 7:04 left in the second quarter, down 3-0. The 49ers actually blocked the six-man pressure up very well with Willie Gay as the fifth rusher from the  left defensive edge, and Nick Bolton on the right side as the sixth rusher. It was six-on-six with George Kittle in the formation because Christian McCaffrey released from the backfield on play action into a choice route, while L’Jarius Sneed had Jauan Jennings to the right offensive side on the dig route, and Trent McDuffie had Deebo Samuel up the numbers on the other side.

Purdy had time to scan those possibilities, but both receivers were locked down. Purdy had two practical choices – hit McCaffrey on the choice route, or hit Brandon Aiyuk on the flat route to the left side out of motion, which probably would have gone for about the same result – six yards – because Chamarri Conner was manned up on Aiyuk, and Aiyuk didn’t look like he would have gotten very far after the catch. This was a fascinating example to me of how much Spags trusts his defensive backs to shut things down in coverage concepts that would normally favor the offense – and would normally favor the offense to an extreme degree if the quarterback is left clean.

Also important was that when the Chiefs sent those man blitzes, most of the 49ers’ yards came after the catch — there weren’t a lot of explosive opportunities downfield, outside of this 18-yard first quarter completion to receiver Chris Conley, when Conley beat cornerback Jaylen Watson on an out-cut.

“Man, it was just tough,” Purdy said postgame of the Chiefs’ defense. “I feel like first and second down was tough. We’d always – I feel like it was like third and long. I have to be better on first and second down, taking what they have given me, and I feel like they were just sticky across the board when they played man coverage and stuff so that was another challenge. So, I just feel like on third down, I have to execute better. For our defense to give us that many stops like they did, and then for us to go three now and not do anything with those opportunities, that’s what hurts me.”

It hurt the 49ers throughout the game, and it was one of the most unexpected parts of Super Bowl LVIII.

Anatomy of a Play: How the Chiefs won Super Bowl LVIII with ‘Tom and Jerry’

“Corn Dog” or “Tom and Jerry?” Whatever you want to call it, it’s the play that won the Chiefs two straight Super Bowls, and here’s how it worked.

We all remember “Corn Dog” — the reverse motion play the Kansas City Chiefs used to score two touchdowns against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII. The Chiefs love to use that motion, because it tells Patrick Mahomes everything he needs to know about what red zone defense he’s going to see, what the coverage is, and how he can beat it.

There was this five-yard touchdown pass to Kadarius Toney with 12:08 left in the game, and the Chiefs down, 27-20. The Eagles were in Cover-1… until they weren’t.

Then, with 9:26 left in the game, it was time for Skyy Moore to hit the Eagles’ Cover-0 with the same basic concept to the left side.

“Corn Dog” won the Chiefs one Super Bowl, and it was back — with a new name — at the best possible time for Andy Reid and his team in Super Bowl LVIII.

With six seconds left in overtime, Kansas City had the ball at the San Francisco 49ers’ three-yard line, down 22-19. One play later, that same return or zipper motion thing placed another Lombardi Trophy in the Chiefs’ facility. This time, it was to the right again, and Mecole Hardman as the target. Hardman was wide open on the return, with defensive back Logan Ryan wondering what just happened.

Same play, new name, per Peter King of NBC Sports.

So here came Mecole Hardman—whose KC career ended when he wasn’t re-signed last year, and whose Jets career ended when he was traded back to Kansas City for a bag of footballs in October. Reid called the play into Mahomes’ helmet and Mahomes said to the huddle: “Tiger 12, Tom & Jerry right, Gun trips, right bunch, F shuttle.” That last part was the Corn Dog motion from last Super Bowl—speed in, speed out. Hardman ran the precise jet motion, right to left, into the formation, and then quickly turned around to catch the game-winner. This year, instead of colling the play Corn Dog, Reid called it Tom and Jerry. (Reasons unknown and unexplained.) “We built Corn Dog saying, ‘Well for sure they’ll cover Corn Dog because we called it twice. They’ve seen it.’” Nope. Hardman wasn’t wide open, but he was open. Really open. And KC had its third Super Bowl in five years.

After the game, Mahomes explained the logistics of the name change.

“I think it started because Clyde [Edwards-Helaire] was the first one to run it and Trav [Kelce] was the other guy part of it, so it was like Tom and Jerry — you know, that that whole thing, but that’s the concept of the play. And then the motion was the exact same motion that we ran in the Super Bowl last year, and they actually covered it pretty well at first. Then I went back to them, and that’s a little risky always. So I was like, ‘Hey, let me make sure it’s open’. But obviously coach Reid knows when to call those plays at the right time.”

Yes, Coach Reid does. And for the second straight season, “Corn Dog,” or “Tom and Jerry,” or whatever you want to call it — we’re sure the Eagles and 49ers have some NSFW names for it — was the go-to play to help secure the NFL’s next dynasty.

What on earth does Kyle Shanahan do now?

Kyle Shanahan is the greatest offensive mind of his generation, but that won’t matter anymore until and unless he can finally win a Super Bowl.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is unquestionably the best offensive coach in the NFL. He’s got a list of acolytes that are also head coaches and other kinds of offensive play-callers that seems to paper half the league.

But right now, none of that matters. Because for the third time in a Super Bowl, Shanahan as either the offensive coordinator or head coach has blown a lead of at least 10 points.

That’s the toughest thing about getting to that many high-profile games — if you keep losing them, that’s the only way people will define you. And for Shanahan, it’s now losing Super Bowl LI as the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator, infamously blowing that 28-3 lead, and two Super Bowls (LVI and LVIII) in which he had 10 points on the Chiefs and couldn’t come through. Shanahan is also on the losing side of the only two overtime Super Bowls — LI and this one.

Sometimes, history really sucks.

“There’s nothing different to say,” Shanahan said after this particular srushing loss. “I mean I don’t care how you lose when you lose Super Bowls, especially ones you think you can pull off, it hurts. When you’re in the NFL, I think every team should hurt, except for one at the end. We’ve gotten pretty damn close, but we haven’t pulled it off. We’re hurting right now, but it doesn’t take away from how proud of our guys I am. I’m really proud of them today, too. As part of sports, as part of football, as part of life, as part of life. I’m glad we put ourselves out there. I love our team. We’ll recover, and we’ll be back next year strong.”

He’s not wrong about any of that but the cast this puts over one’s legacy is also undeniable.

Shanahan is hardly the only coach to face this crucible. Tom Landry couldn’t get past the Vince Lombardi Packers or Blanton Collier’s Cleveland Browns in the back half of the 1960s. John Madden’s Oakland Raiders went to three straight conference championships and lost them all to the eventual Super Bowl winner from 1973 to 1975. And the list of teams that had to take a back seat to Bill Belichick when Belichick was winning six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots was … well, rather long.

If you get over the hump eventually, the narrative goes away. It did for Landry and for Madden when they won their own Super Bowls. But in Shanahan’s case, we’re still left wanting when it comes to the biggest game, and that will invariably — and not unfairly — complicate his legacy over time as it does now.

Until he is able to change it.

This time around, it seemed like Shanahan had the guys to get it done. Brock Purdy had been the near-perfect distiller of his offense in ways that no other quarterback had been. Purdy’s targets are as talented as any in the league, and Steve Wilks’ defense completely dominated the Chiefs in this game … until they didn’t on the last drive. Patrick Mahomes threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman with three seconds left in the first overtime period, and the Chiefs won 25-22.

Belichick’s Patriots and now the Chiefs are the only teams in the new millennium to repeat as Super Bowl champions. With three championships in five years, they’re the new dynasty, and Mahomes is the unkillable force.

So, it’s Shanahan who’s on the wrong side of history and dynasty.

Shanahan’s bona fides are undeniable. No offensive play caller and play designer is better at displacing defenses, but all that statement will get now is, “Well, if he’s so great, why can’t he maintain it when it matters?”

And that’s a fair, if cruel, question.

As far as what Shanahan can do to erase that narrative? It might be up to making the Super Bowl in a year when the Chiefs somehow miss it. Or, to hope (quite possibly in vain) that things will turn his way if he has to face this juggernaut once again.

Right now, there’s only the pain of not only falling short, but falling short in the same way, over and over, in a Sisyphean struggle to roll that impossibly heavy boulder up the hill, feeling like you might be on the wrong end of the wrath of the gods.

More than any other in history, Super Bowl LVIII was about special teams

More than any other Super Bowl in history, Super Bowl LVIII was defined by two dominant, record-setting special teams units.

LAS VEGAS — When a Super Bowl ends, the temptation is to put a neat little bow on the whole thing. But when a Super Bowl is as uncertain and messy as Super Bowl LVIII was, it’s tougher to find the dominance that mattered in the end. The San Francisco 49ers’ defense, especially its defensive line, was about as good as any could be, but in the end, it wasn’t enough to contain Patrick Mahomes as the Kansas City Chiefs became the first team since the 2003-04 New England Patriots to repeat as Super Bowl champs.

Not that the Chiefs were anything special on offense. Mahomes was better in the stat sheet than he was on the field — 34 of 46 for 333 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 99.3. Beyond his frantic final drive to win the game 25-22 in overtime… well, there were issues.

Kansas City’s defense was equal to the 49ers’ challenge, limiting San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy to 23 completions in 38 attempts for 255 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 89.3. Receiver Jauan Jennings was the best passer on the day, completing one pass on one attempt for a 21-yard touchdown to running back Christian McCaffrey.

So, it was a weird game without an obvious winner… except for two. The special teams units of the Chiefs and 49ers. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, here were all the Super Bowl records set in this game:

  • Most Field Goals Made, Career – 9, Harrison Butker
  • Longest Field Goal Made – 57, Harrison Butker
  • Most 50-Yard Field Goals Made, Game – 2, Jake Moody
  • Highest Average Punting, Game – 50.8, Tommy Townsend & Mitch Wishnowsky
  • Most Fumbles Recovered, Career – 4, Patrick Mahomes
  • Most Field Goals Made, Both Teams – 7, Kansas City (4) vs. San Francisco (3)
  • Highest Average Punting, Team – 50.8, Kansas City & San Francisco
  • Fewest Kickoff Returns, Both Teams – 0, Kansas City vs. San Francisco
  • Fewest Kickoff Return Yards, Both Teams – 0, Kansas City vs. San Francisco

And here were all the records tied in this game:

  • Most Field Goals Attempted, Career – 10, Harrison Butker
  • Most Field Goals Made, Game – 4, Harrison Butker
  • Most Fumbles, Career – 5, Patrick Mahomes
  • Most Consecutive Games Won – 2, Kansas City
  • Most Points Overtime Period, Team – 6, Kansas City
  • Most Field Goals Attempted, Both Teams – 7, Kansas City (4) vs. San Francisco (3)
  • Most Field Goals Made, Team – 4, Kansas City
  • Fewest Rushing Touchdowns, Both Teams – 0, Kansas City vs. San Francisco
  • Fewest Kickoff Returns, Team – 0, Kansas City & San Francisco
  • Fewest Kickoff Returns Yards, Team – 0, Kansas City & San Francisco

The common thread, for the most part? Special teams on both sides. 49ers kicker Jake Moody set a Super Bowl record with a 55-yard field goal with 14:48 left in the first half, and he held that record for less than two game quarters, as Harrison Butker outdid him with a 57-yarder with 5:01 left in the third quarter.

So, when the defenses were spinning, and the offenses were sputtering, it was really the special teams that stood out more than just about anything else — and for the Chiefs, it really helped to win the day.

Who woulda thunk it?

The most important plays of Super Bowl LVIII

At the first half of Super Bowl LVIII, here are the most important plays that have done the most to define the game.

Every football game comes down to a series of moments that flip things in one direction or another. That’s the most true in the Super Bowl, where everything is magnified beyond all reason.

Through the first half of Super Bowl LVIII between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, here are the most important plays that have made the biggest difference in this particular game, which has the 49ers leading the Chiefs, 10-3.

Jauan Jennings throws TD pass for 49ers off trick play

Jauan Jennings threw the first TD pass in Super Bowl 58

Kyle Shanahan got tricky and the San Francisco 49ers had a touchdown and 10-0 second-quarter lead on Sunday over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 58.

The play saw Brock Purdy throw a backward pass to Jauan Jennings.

The wideout then floated — yes, floated — a throw across the field and it landed in Christian McCaffrey’s hands.

The elite running back took off and was in the end zone 21 yards later.

After the PAT, the Niners led, 10-0/