Grant Cohn: 49ers' red-zone failures are a product of Shanahan's approach
SANTA CLARA – Kyle Shanahan doesn't understand the problem with the 49ers' red-zone offense. The problem is him.
He thinks his players are the issue. He blamed them on Monday, said they 'missed opportunities' he created in the red zone during the 49ers' 24-16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
The 49ers may have missed opportunities Sunday when they scored only one touchdown in four red-zone trips. But, their red-zone issues began way before that. They started when Kyle Shanahan became the head coach. He is the constant in this red-zone equation.
And he won't do the math. He's in denial.
'Last year, I think we got better in the red zone as the year went,' Shanahan said Monday.
They didn't. They got worse. The 49ers' red-zone-touchdown percentage dropped to 45.5, which put them near the bottom of the league, after Jimmy Garoppolo became the starter Week 13. Before Garoppolo was the starter, the 49ers scored touchdowns 48.2 percent of the time they reached the red zone, which also ranked near the bottom of the league.
Garoppolo is much more talented than his predecessors – Brian Hoyer and C.J. Beathard. Yet, the red-zone offense got worse with Garoppolo. The onus is on Shanahan.
Shanahan is an offensive guru. Some consider him the best offensive coach in the league. How can he make getting to the red zone look so easy and scoring in the red zone look so difficult?
'It's just the same for every other team in the NFL,' Shanahan lectured. 'It gets harder the tighter you get. It always does. That's every team.'
True. But, it gets especially hard for Shanahan.
He has been a play caller and an offensive coordinator for 10 seasons. During that time, his red-zone offenses have ranked in the top half of the league just three times. He has a history of failure near the goal line.
'You try to get guys as open as possible,' Shanahan explained. 'When people aren't open I always look at myself. Yeah, you need guys to beat man coverage, and those are the type of guys we want here, and I think our guys have done a good job at beating man coverage, but we always look into that.'
He's looking into the wrong things.
Here are the real reasons Shanahan's offense underperforms in the red zone.
1. Shanahan doesn't run the ball enough in the red zone.
Notice Shanahan talked about getting people open and beating man coverage.
He's too focused on passing. The 49ers need to run the ball more. Last season, they ran 26 times fewer than they passed in the red zone. A huge imbalance, one of the most imbalanced red-zone attacks in the league.
The best red-zone offenses commit to the ground game. Of the 10 teams that scored the most touchdowns in the red zone last season, seven ran more than they passed in that area of the field.
Smart coaches want to run the ball.
Gurus want to pass.
Completing a pass into the end zone shows the guru's ingenuity. He designed a play that outsmarted the other team. He was the hero.
Running the ball into the end zone does not show ingenuity. It shows the strength, toughness and will of the players. They were the heroes.
Shanahan is a smart coach. He should realize the mistake he's making and take his ego out of the red-zone drama.
2. Shanahan's offensive philosophy isn't suited for the red zone.
His philosophy is all about speed. He stretches the opposing defense horizontally with fast offensive linemen and running backs who run outside-zone plays — the foundation of the 49ers' running game. And he stretches the defense vertically with fast wide receivers and tight ends who run deep.
Shanahan is a stretcher.
But his philosophy doesn't work in the red zone. That area is too compact for stretching horizontally or vertically. Fast receivers have nowhere to run. And the outside-zone play doesn't work. Especially near the goal line.
'That's why we didn't run one outside zone inside the 10 (Sunday),' Shanahan said. 'The tighter you get, everything gets heavier, everything gets harder and when penetration is bad, it's tough to get outside.'
Which means the 49ers can't use their best run play inside the opponent's 10-yard line. Shanahan admitted it in the previous paragraph. Instead, they have to use other runs they don't execute as well, go to their second-level run plays. They have to pound the rock up the middle and their small offensive line isn't built for that.
'You need guys who can run,' Shanahan said. 'Some of them happen to be a little bit smaller. That's not your choice, but you can get by.'
Until you reach the red zone.
3. Shanahan doesn't use zone reads or run-pass options enough in the red zone.
In that respect, he's not cutting edge. The rest of the league is using RPOs like crazy and he isn't. I'll define RPO below.
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