3 Ways the 49ers Can Totally Blow Super Bowl LIV
By Michael Luciano
The San Francisco 49ers have figured out a pretty successful, repeatable formula that landed them in Super Bowl LIV: Run the ball down the opposing team's throat, kill them on play action, and pressure them with any one of their four outstanding defensive linemen.
Should Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs find a way to disrupt that formula, that could cause some serious issues for Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers, which could force them to do some drastic things, like these three awful coaching decisions.
3. Not Doubling Tyreek Hill
The strategy of doubling Hill to prevent his speed from making plays down the field hasn't proven to be the most successful option for teams playing Kansas City, but Shanahan can't afford to give Hill the chance of breaking one deep down the field. Hill's unique speed offers San Francisco a challenge they haven't seen before, and they must do whatever they can to nullify it.
2. Staying in Cover 3 All Game
No team plays more Cover 3 or more zone coverage than Robert Saleh's 49ers. While his numbers against most coverages are excellent, Patrick Mahomes has a unique talent for finding the soft spots in zone coverage. Though it goes against every intuition in Saleh's body, throwing in some man coverage, heavy fronts, and disguises to keep Mahomes on his toes could force the one mistake San Francisco needs to win.
1. Abandoning the Run Game and Throwing it 50 Times
Jimmy Garoppolo is a fine quarterback. He's probably in the No. 8-No.12 range, if we were to rank the starting QBs from top to bottom. Having said that, the 49ers don't want him to win the game with his arm alone. Even if the Chiefs stymie Raheem Mostert and the backfield early on, Shanahan needs to trust in the run game, as getting into a shootout with Andy Reid is not a prudent strategy.