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In their first two drives against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers gained a total of minus-6 yards on two three-and-outs. It was the worst blip of the team’s time under Kyle Shanahan, who’s been San Francisco’s head coach since 2017.
Then, on their next six drives, the 49ers scored six straight touchdowns, pummeling the Eagles, 42-19, in what was supposed to be the matchup of the regular season, and turned out to be yet another Shanahan master class.
Clearly, the Eagles and defensive coordinator Sean Desai wanted to take away San Francisco’s passing game between the seams. And in the end, Shanahan had no problem with that. While Philly was defending the spine of the field, the 49ers simply went nuts either to the perimeter, or with concepts that took Desai’s defense out of their elements.
“Outside those first two drives, it’s like that’s the Niner football that we know,” Sa Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy said after the game. “That’s the offense that we know. Everyone’s doing their part, everything’s clicking obviously, some great play calls, and then everyone just makes plays and does it the right way. We protect the ball, defense does their job, that felt good. And that’s what we’re always trying to do. That’s the standard that we know and that’s the standard that we’ve set over the years. That’s what we expect out of ourselves.”
And here’s how it looked on the field.