Have defenses caught up with Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers HC offensive plan?

The 49ers face the Dolphins this Sunday in a matchup between two of the NFL’s most disappointing offenses.

The 49ers have scored just 22.4 points per game this season, 6.5 points per game fewer than in 2023. And the Dolphins have scored just 19.7 points per game this season, 9.5 points per game fewer than in the last season.

The problem? Christian McCaffrey and Tyreek Hill are no longer dominant players – that’s a big part of it. But their offensive plans are no longer up to date either. The defense appears to have caught up with Kyle Shanahan and Mike McDaniel, who worked together for more than a decade. Now they train against each other on Sunday.

This week, Shanahan was asked if he wanted to reinvent himself. Here’s what he said, courtesy of the 49ers’ public relations department.

Q: A popular topic of conversation on the radio is that you have to reinvent yourself. Your offense is spread across the league and everyone has gotten into it and now you have to evolve or whatever. I assume some of this already happens every year. Do you partly agree with that, or is it just something you always do as a trainer?

SHANAHAN: “That’s what you try to do every week. That’s what you always try to do. But it’s a bit like the other question when it comes to intrigue: you don’t just say, “Hey, today I’m going to try to run the wishbone offense and stuff.” It’s about what players you have, what you believe in You and what gives these guys the best chance of success? For a brief period of time, we almost went with the running quarterback here, possibly (Dallas Cowboys QB) Trey (Lance). When he came out there you saw a different offense. You see different things. You have to adapt your players. I know what I want to do. I think we have the players here who can do that. But to reinvent myself as you wish, I sported a mustache for a while this offseason. That’s how I would see it. And I’m just kidding, but when it comes to football, I think coaches get a little too much credit when a really good concept is to give the players you have the best chances, the maximum get out and do your best. That’s what we will always try to do. This will change the pattern.”

Q: On that note, I think there are 18 teams in the league that do a variation of what you do. Are you flattered or frustrated by this?

SHANAHAN: “It just is what it is. When they say they do what we do, the movement of the team is much stronger now, they believe in playful action much more. I think that comes from defensive coordinators and defensive coaches forcing that on offensive players. I think the more young guys come into the league, the more they see it. That’s how it works. When I came into the league, you see certain things and I ran a certain offense in Houston, when I was there, went to Washington, tried to run a really similar offense and it was a completely different personnel and I became Clearly I couldn’t run it It was the same and I had to adapt and every year was different. Then we had Robert (Griffin III), the former Washington Commanders quarterback, there, a quarterback with a running element, and then I had to do things I’d never done before. Not because you’re simply reinventing yourself or trying to change the league, but because you want to find what can help the guys you have succeed. And that can constantly change depending on the player’s skills. But as a coach I would say: If you want to make it in this league and have some success in this league, you have to be better able to adapt to everything, otherwise you will only be successful when you have the perfect situations.

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