Kurtenbach: To fix their run game, the 49ers had to un-Shanahan their offense

SANTA CLARA The name Shanahan in the NFL means the outside zone blocking scheme It s the family business that ers head coach Kyle Shanahan inherited from his dad Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Shanahan It s that synchronized ballet of an offensive line firing off the ball in unison moving left or right attacking space first and defenders second This scheme is the reason roughly half the coaches in this league have jobs And it s supposed to be art But for the first six weeks of this ers season that art has looked more like a toddler s finger-painting project Related Articles ers Studs and Duds Christian McCaffrey is still the NFL s top running back Kurtenbach My predictions for ers-Falcons Can Mac Jones survive the Falcons onslaught Kurtenbach Kyle Shanahan once compared him to a -year-old Now Kendrick Bourne is carrying the Niners The ers run event was once the envy of the NFL It s been grounded Kurtenbach Fred Warner s season-ending injury is a emerging point for the ers season San Francisco was last in the NFL in yards per carry despite having the best left tackle in football and a running back who was an MVP candidate less than two years ago It was all terribly unbecoming and it was threatening to torpedo a ers season that started with such promise So what did the younger Shanahan in front of the entire world on a standalone night battle do Sunday against the Falcons How did the offensive genius completely figure out how to run the ball By not running his offense The Niners stopped being dancers and became bouncers against Atlanta Forget finesse Forget angles This was pure unadulterated power It was simple It was brutal It was opposite day for the Niners And it worked Sunday was the best the Niners have looked running the football all season San Francisco ran for yards against the Falcons sparking a - win that might have changed the lesson of the Niners season For largest part folks watching at home the change was imperceptible But for anyone who has ever put a hand in the dirt it was jarring It was like watching Adam Sandler the king of slapstick suddenly show up in a serious drama But there are certain serious chops there The gap scheme isn t about stretching a defense it s about caving in its face You pull a guard you trap a tackle and you tell your running back to follow the big man and run through whatever s left in his wake It was a elation to watch It was a delight to play left tackle Trent Williams stated me Related Articles No Warner no Bosa No trouble ers meet the standard in shutting down Falcons Photos Christian McCaffrey leads the way in San Francisco ers - win over Atlanta Falcons What the ers announced after beating the Falcons on Sunday Night Football Instant analysis of the shorthanded ers - win over the Falcons ers Studs and Duds Christian McCaffrey is still the NFL s top running back The star of the performance was running back Christian McCaffrey who ran for yards more than his previous season-high with a -yard two-touchdown performance He added a team-high yards in the pass tournament Two hundred and one yards will earn you plenty of accommodation But the highest praise he received was that he once again looked like Christian McCaffrey He reads everything perfectly Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss announced of the Niners running back He s so precise He got the best of us the present day But he was hardly alone in deserving praise Let s give a few love to the guys who cleared the lanes for McCaffrey to deliver a vintage performance Not just Shanahan the playcaller but fullback Kyle Juszczyk who had his best tournament of the season by running around the backfield like he was peak Tyreek Hill The move was called dash motion and Juszczyk stated it was done to help him have a head of speed as a lead blocker for the gap blocking scheme This was selected honest-to-god fullbacking folks Old school stuff And compared to what Juszczyk usually does he reported it was night and day I think we ran power the definitive gap-scheme play seven or eight times and we ran counter twice and then we ran slice which is the same as counter for me Juszczyk revealed It s so much different I m going to have a sparse more bruises the upcoming day but when you win the soreness you appreciate it And it wasn t just Juszczyk out in space making plays The Niners on those seven or eight power plays were pulling right guard Dominick Puni Puni called it running transportation We were just trying to find a way from mumbling everything up in the middle he reported And they did But Puni s outstanding transportation provision was no small achievement considering he has fought a knee injury all season and wasn t able to practice fully until the Niners Friday walkthrough this week Puni convinced the Niners coaches he could play by arguing adrenaline would take over That adrenaline took over the match The following day maybe tonight it won t be pretty but I ll do anything for these guys to win man Puni informed me It makes it all worth it That s what an offensive lineman is tough physical right tackle Colton McKivitz stated of Puni He s fighting through something that specific guys will play certain guys won t Him playing speaks to who he is But is this who the Niners are moving forward Is the Shanahan offense now a gap-scheme company The opposing defense will dictate that Atlanta s fire-off-the-line defense was asking to be hit with the gap scheme but the Niners can now win with multiple run-game looks That noted there was potential for the gap scheme to be the default moving forward That s us That s how we should run the ball Puni stated It did feel like a coming-out party