Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Wednesday, January 31st, 2024
49ers game review: Lost amid the euphoria? Problems stopping the run (paywall)
“By “flowing” I mean Young was jogging. And Young never reached a higher gear as Gibbs juked free safety Tashaun Gipson near the line of scrimmage and weaved through defenders into the end zone.
Despite his leisurely backside pursuit, Young was still in position to make a tackle attempt on Gibbs around the 6-yard line. But he didn’t leave his feet, reaching out his left hand after Gibbs had already whizzed by him.”
“You ever see one of those little water dragons that runs on the water?” tight end George Kittle said. “That’s what I envisioned every time he’s running [the] football. … He just is a tough kid. A lot of grit to him and he understands that when he’s playing at a high level, when he needs to play at a high level, everyone around him is better.”
Where will Brandon Aiyuk’s ‘Immaculate Deflection’ catch end up in 49ers lore? (paywall)
“Might Aiyuk’s grab eventually enter this 49ers pantheon of catches? It didn’t come as the go-ahead score in the final minute of a playoff game, as was the case with the aforementioned three. But it was the key jolt of energy for the 49ers as they registered the largest second-half comeback — 17 points — in conference championship game history.
“(It was) one of the best catches I’ve ever seen in the biggest moments,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday. “We will all be hugely grateful for our whole lives.”
Baldy on what’s different about 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan: “He trusts his quarterback”
“I feel like Kyle can be hard on him on Wednesday of practice,” Baldinger continued. “He could be hard on him in the locker room. He could be hard on him on the sideline. He’s demanding. Some guys you could do that with because they know exactly what you want. They know that it’s inside of you, and this is what we need. And I just feel like that toughness that Kyle likes to coach with, he can do that with Brock.”
“I believe that Warner was the strongest voice urging defensive coordinator Steve Wilks to come down from the booth to the sidelines at midseason. I believe that Warner has input on what Wilks does schematically in every game and has clear influence on in-game adjustments, too. I believe Warner has earned all of that. I believe the 49ers gain from all of that.
So while Wilks deserves blame for the first-half collapse and large credit for the second-half adjustments, I think Warner shares in this, but mostly in the credit. Because the main change I detected on defense was watching No. 54 flying into just about every Detroit ballcarrier throughout the second half Sunday, on Warner’s way to 13 tackles and a stunning 9 solo stops for the game. Warner felt like an extension of Wilks on Sunday. Or was Wilks an extension of Warner?”
49ers overreactions: Shanahan’s legacy on line in Super Bowl LVIII?
“The 49ers are set up better than most teams when it comes to covering top-flight tight ends because of swift linebackers Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw patrolling the middle of the field.
But, as noted in the above statement, Kelce is the biggest challenge the 49ers will ever face — especially when considering Patrick Mahomes is the one delivering the passes.
The 49ers faced some of the top stat-producing tight ends in the NFL this season, and they mostly did a good job.
They completely shut down David Njoku, Evan Engram, Jake Ferguson and Trey McBride (once), but Sam LaPorta, T.J. Hockenson and McBride (once) had anywhere from 86 to 102 receiving yards.
In 19 games, the 49ers surrendered only three touchdown receptions to tight ends: Pittsburgh’s Pat Freiermuth, Seattle’s Colby Parkinson and Green Bay’s Tucker Kraft.
The 49ers do not figure to deploy single coverage against Kelce often in this game, but there will be times. Warner and Greenlaw, as well as safeties Tashaun Gipson and Ji’Ayir Brown, will face huge challenges to keep Kansas City’s two best players from teaming up to take over this game.”