NFL playoffs: 7 bold predictions for the NFC Championship Game

The Packers and the Niners meet for the NFC berth in the Super Bowl. Sold bold predictions for the big tussle.

The San Francisco 49ers play host to the Green Bay Packers Sunday at Levi’s Stadium with the NFC Super Bowl berth on the line. The game is a rematch of a regular-season rout that saw San Francisco roll to a 37-8 victory. Expect another lopisded contest or will Aaron Rodgers & Co. have more answers? Some bold predictions

Rodgers will throw for more than 104 yards

Don’t expect the Niners to shut down Aaron Rodgers the way they did in the first meeting. The Packers were totally out of sorts and off their game for the entire contest. Rodgers won’t let that happen again.

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Kyle Shanahan compares 49ers offense to Golden State Warriors

Kyle Shanahan compared his offensive philosophy to the NBA champion Warriors.

Typical offensive roles for the 49ers are more of a suggestion than a rule. Head coach Kyle Shanahan has built a roster that’s full of multifaceted skill position players that allow San Francisco to deploy them in a variety of unconventional ways. Shanahan compared his offensive philosophy to another Bay Area juggernaut, the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors, while among the worst teams in the league this season, just went to the NBA Finals five consecutive years behind a ‘Strength in Numbers’ mantra where head coach Steve Kerr relied on a ball-movement offense and a deep rotation of bench players.

Shanahan compared the 49ers offense to those championship Warriors teams because of their versatility, and said it’s something he strived for even when he was the Falcons’ offensive coordinator.

“I remember saying in Atlanta even when we were there that I wanted our receiver group to be similar to the Warriors to where who knows who the starter is, they can all play,” Shanahan said. “Andre Iguodala, things like that, I think he wasn’t the starter and then he’s the Conference Finals or whatever it’s called, the NBA Championship, MVP, the seven games that mattered at the end. So, I mean, you think of stuff like that and that stuff, you’ve got an MVP, you’ve got a defensive MVP, guys who seem really not to care how it gets done. They all just go out there and ball and see where the weakness in the defense is, and wherever that ends up, that guy shoots and that’s a lot how I see offense.”

Shanahan was referring to 2015 NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala, an All-Star caliber player who took a defense-centered bench role with the Warriors to help them maximize their rotations after spending much of his career as a scorer.

The versatility that made the Warriors dominant has driven the 49ers to within a win of their seventh trip to the Super Bowl.

San Francisco has accumulated a wealth of dynamic offensive personnel that allows them to distribute the ball to any of the eligible players from any position. It’s the philosophy that puts running back Raheem Mostert in the slot and wide receiver Deebo Samuel in the backfield to take a handoff on the same play. It’s why fullback Kyle Juszczyk is so valuable, and why George Kittle has become such a force as a pass catcher and in the run game. Keeping every offensive player ready is how wide receiver Kendrick Bourne posts 18 first downs and five touchdowns on just 30 receptions. They had three running backs go over 500 rushing yards, Samuel had 159 rushing yards, and the team’s 28 touchdown passes went to 13 different players.

The Warriors brought ‘positionless’ basketball to the fore, now Shanahan is doing the same in the NFL. All that’s left now are the championships.

Ranking the NFL’s final four head coaches

Touchdown Wire ranks (from worst to best) the four coaches remaining in the NFL’s postseason.

If you did a ranking of the league’s head coaches at any other time, New England’s Bill Belichick would top the list. After all, the man has won six Super Bowls.

But, in this case, we’re talking only about the here and now. Belichick doesn’t even qualify for this list. That’s because we’re ranking only the four coaches whose teams will be playing in the conference championship games.

We’re ranking only Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur, Kansas City’s Andy Reid, San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan and Tennessee’s Mike Vrabel. This is a unique crew of coaches. Reid is the well-known veteran while the other three are in the early years of their careers.

With a trip to the Super Bowl on the line, Touchdown Wire provides a scouting report and ranking of each of the four head coaches remaining. We go from worst to best.

4. Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers

This is Shanahan’s first winning season in his three years as a head coach. The 49ers have been outstanding in most areas. But I think it’s still a little too early to classify Shanahan as a great head coach. He certainly may get there and it may be soon. But, for now, I see him as a great offensive coordinator. That’s his background and he holds the coordinator and play-calling duties with the 49ers. Shanahn is a master out of running and passing out of the same personnel groups and formations. Wisely, he’s not really involved on defense. He leaves that at up to coordinator Robert Saleh, who is one of the best in the business.

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NFL’s conference title games will feature several former Broncos

Broncos fans will recognize several former Denver players and coaches during the AFC and NFC championship games this weekend.

The Broncos did not reach the playoffs this year but the team will be well-represented by former coaches and players in the NFL’s conference championship games this weekend.

49ers center Ben Garland and Emmanuel Sanders both played in Denver before landing in San Francisco. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is the son of former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. Defensive backs/passing game coordinator Joe Woods coached in Denver from 2015-2018.

Wes Welker, who was a key member of the Broncos’ record-breaking offense in 2013, now serves as San Francisco’s wide receivers coach.

In Green Bay, the Packers have three offensive linemen who spent time in Denver: Billy Turner, Jared Veldheer and John Leglue.

The Titans have four former Broncos on their roster: punter Brett Kern, wide receiver Kalif Raymond, linebacker Wesley Woodyard and cornerback Tramaine Brock. Kern earned first-team All-Pro honors and the third Pro Bowl selection of his career this season.

The Titans will take on the Chiefs in the AFC title game on Sunday, Jan. 19 at 1:05 p.m. MT on CBS. The 49ers will face the Packers in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday at 4:40 p.m. MT on Fox.

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NFL conference championship round coaches ranked

All four NFL conference championship coaches deserve credit for getting their team to this point. Kyle Shanahan turned around the Niners after finally getting his franchise quarterback in place and a defense built to carry the team. Andy Reid has been a staple in the playoffs for most of his career. Matt LaFleur and Mike Vrabel are young, up-and-coming coaches who led their teams to heights few predicted in 2019. So let’s do the obvious thing and rank them.

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Both coaches in NFC Championship game were fired by Redskins

Neither Kyle Shanahan nor Matt LaFleur was apparently good enough for the Redskins in 2013, but now they’re a game away from the Super Bowl.

So it’s gonna be a “Did you know the two head coaches in the NFC Championship use to coach for the Redskins?” kinda week huh? pic.twitter.com/MVZc7YqTeh

— Not Robert Griffin (@Pseudo_RGIII) January 13, 2020

Hey did you hear the news? The two coaches that are going to be coaching in the NFC Championship Game both used to coach for the Washington Redskins.

One is Kyle Shanahan, the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. He used to be the offensive coordinator for the Redskins from 2010-2013. The other coach is Matt Lafleur, with the Green Bay Packers. He used to be the quarterback’s coach for the Redskins during the same time that Shanahan was the OC in Washington. In that time, the Redskins went 24-40 under head coach Mike Shanahan, and they were eventually fired after going 3-13 in their final year with the team.

Now, the two young offensive minds have found greener grass outside of Washington, and they’ve managed to make their way into the playoffs, through the wild card and divisional rounds, and into the conference championship.

Meanwhile, the Redskins missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season this year.

But who’s comparing.

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Kevin O’Connell becomes latest ‘recovering-Redskin’ to likely find success outside of Washington

A number of coaches have left the Redskins to find great success elsewhere, and Kevin O’Connell is likely the newest member of that club.

Another year, another bright offensive mind choosing to leave the Washington Redskins to coach elsewhere, and likely find great success.

It was reported late on Friday night that The Los Angeles Rams are hiring former Redskins’ offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell to be the new OC under Sean McVay, a former Redskins coach. The move feels like a great fit for O’Connell, who was given permission to interview with other teams for their job openings after Washington decided to hire Scott Turner, the former QB Coach and interim OC for the Carolina Panthers. Now, O’Connell will reunite with McVay — who he succeeded as the OC in Washington — and they will likely team up to further the Rams’ recent success of deploying a potent offense that keeps defenses on their toes.

This is what makes Redskins fans, and those who cover the team, extremely frustrated. After enduring a 2019 season that was wrought with terrible losses and had injuries and incompetence sprinkled every which way, the 2020 year was starting to look up. A new head coach, a new general manager, and a new coaching staff was expected to right the ship and get things back on track. While many of the coaches in Washington needed to go, there was arguably one coach that nearly everyone wanted to stay, and that was O’Connell. His young offensive mind proved to do wonders with rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins in 2019, as the two found several things that worked late in the season, and he was said by many respected people to be the next McVay, or Kyle Shanahan, or Matt LaFleur, all of whom came from the Redskins coaching tree. Now, like the aforementioned coaches, O’Connell will realize his success away from Washington D.C.

Of course, none of this is to say that the Redskins made a bad hire with Turner, who could very well be a solid coordinator under Ron Rivera. This is more of an airing of grievances, and something that feels like we should have seen it coming. If you were to build a Redskins coaching staff a month ago, you would bring in a host of new people, and keep the few people who were finding success. That means that KOC remains, and better coaches are brought in around him. Instead, an entirely new staff reigns in Washington, and what feels like the cool-kids club — or maybe the ‘recovering-Redskins’ — are elsewhere, reveling in the joy of realizing success.

Let’s just hope that a bit of that success can be realized in Washington somewhat soon as well.

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WATCH: Kyle Shanahan compares home-field advantage to global warming

This was a strange comparison.

Heading into the mid-day Saturday playoff game, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is comparing home-field advantage to global warming ahead of San Francisco (12-3) hosting the Minnesota Vikings (11-6) Saturday.

NFL teams were good on the road during the 2019 regular season. Then, three of four road teams during Wild Card weekend won, leaving home teams watching from home heading into this weekend’s Divisional Round.

So, a reporter asked Shanahan Thursday about his perspective on that and if he still believes home-field advantage exists.

“It definitely exists and it’s just random,” Shanahan said according to NBC Sports Bay Area. “It’s global warming. There’s a home-field advantage. It’s harder to play when you can’t hear. That doesn’t mean you’re going to lose. That’s just a fact. It’s harder to play on the road.”

San Francisco suffered its first loss of the season at home, and two of the team’s three total 2019 losses took place at Levi’s Stadium. A third home loss this weekend would obviously end the Niners’ season, so Shanahan is likely hoping that the effects of home-field advantage show up at kickoff.

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Tag: Kyle Shanahan