Kyle Shanahan received some criticism for his aggressive play calling against the Chargers, but the San Francisco 49ers coach should stick to that approach.
Week 4 was one in which the decision-making of NFL head coaches, including San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, came under the microscope.
Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson and Steve Wilks, in his rookie season at the helm of the Arizona Cardinals — the 49ers opponents in Week 5 — both received criticism for conservative approaches in defeat. Meanwhile, Frank Reich saw his aggressiveness come under scrutiny after the Indianapolis Colts lost in overtime.
Shanahan spent the aftermath of their narrow loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in the same camp as Reich. Shanahan has always been an aggressive play caller, but there is an argument that his approach backfired in Week 4.
With 47 seconds left in the first half and the 49ers holding a 17-14 lead, San Francisco got the ball back after a Chargers touchdown. Instead of simply running the ball and letting time expire, Shanahan called three passes in an effort to move the ball downfield. The Niners went three-and-out and just 17 seconds came off the clock, the remaining half a minute enough time for the Chargers to kick the game-tying field goal, with the help of an excellent punt return from Desmond King.
In a game eventually decided by two points, that score was pivotal to the outcome, but Shanahan, per Niners Nation, eagerly defended pushing for more points rather than running out the clock.
"“I felt confident trying to go score. I don’t think we were doing anything ridiculous. We ran three normal plays.” … “I know how big of a deal three-and-out is, I did. You realize you put the defense in a bad situation there. If you know that’s going to happen, I’d rather just take a knee and hope that we made it easier. I also know that if I had to do it over again, I’m going to try that. At 17-14, I think we need to score some points in this game and I think we have an opportunity to do it there.”"
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Attacking is Shanahan’s instinct, however, it is his betrayal of that instinct in the fourth quarter that may have been the greater miscalculation. On the Chargers 15-yard line on fourth-and-1 after a third-down scramble on which C.J. Beathard had his wind knocked out, Shanahan elected to kick a field goal to give the 49ers a 27-26 lead.
With Robbie Gould on an incredible run of splitting the uprights, Beathard having taken a huge hit and still over 12 minutes on the clock, taking the three points looked a sensible decision on the surface.
But the lead the field goal gave them was fragile and soon disappeared as the Chargers responded with a field goal of their own. Had the 49ers converted and gone on to score a touchdown, a defense that found it easier to stop Philip Rivers and the Los Angeles passing game as the second half wore on would have had a five-point lead to work with.
The defense did its job after the Chargers decisive field goal, forcing a punt on their next series to give Beathard a chance to lead the 49ers to victory that was snuffed out by Derwin James.
With the defense not giving up a touchdown in its final five series, Shanahan’s incredible ability for scheming players open and the 49ers boasting an excellent short-yardage back in Alfred Morris, the question remains as to why the Niners did not go for it on fourth down and try to provide Robert Saleh’s a greater margin of command to protect.
Shanahan did the sensible thing in taking the points but, for a young team operating with a backup quarterback, perhaps the sensible route was not the best one. We’ll never know whether Shanahan would have been better served sticking to his aggressive approach and gambling on fourth-and-short. However, leading a team likely to be highly reliant on coaching to stay competitive, the best course of action Shanahan can take going forward is to stay true to mindset that cost him at the end of the first half.