The Blitz: How Kyle Shanahan and the Battered 49ers are Thriving

Ben Johnson in Chicago, Liam Coen in Jacksonville and Mike Vrabel in New England deserve kudos for their work transforming downtrodden franchises into division leaders, but there is one coach who stands out above the rest in 2025.

Kyle Shanahan should be the consensus choice as the NFL Coach of the Year for the wonders he's worked in the Bay Area. 

Though the aforementioned first-year trio has surprised the football world with their impressive rebuilding efforts, the San Francisco 49ers have a chance to claim the NFC’s No. 1 seed heading into Sunday's pivotal showdown against the Seattle Seahawks despite missing their top tackler (linebacker Fred Warner) and star pass rusher (defensive end Nick Bosa), while dealing with a WR1 (Brandon Aiyuk) who went AWOL instead of returning to action following a season-ending knee injury. 

With the team also dealing with the brief absences of Brock Purdy (eight games; turf toe), George Kittle (six games; hamstring and ankle injuries) and Trent Williams (most of Week 17 with hamstring strain), Shanahan has worked his magic to keep the 49ers in title contention with most of the blue-chip players shuttling in and out of the lineup. 

Considering how the challenges forced the 49ers to adapt and adjust on the fly, the play-calling wizard and his staff have demonstrated the schematic flexibility to mask their deficiencies while elevating the backups thrust into prominent roles. Starting with quarterback Mac Jones, who completed 69.6 percent of his passes for 2,151 yards with 13 touchdowns against six interceptions in eight games, the 49ers featured a handful of base concepts concealed with exotic pre-snap shifts and motions to keep defenders guessing every down. 

With most of the 49ers’ passing concepts featuring play-action with in-breaking routes at intermediate ranges, the quarterback plays a game of "Pickle" on a designated second-level defender. As a certified quarterback whisperer with a track record for transforming average quarterbacks into Pro Bowlers and Pro Bowlers into Most Valuable Player candidates, Shanahan’s work with Jones and Purdy (69.3-percent completion rate, 2,040 pass yards with 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions) has made the 49ers’ offense nearly impossible to defend, particularly during a current six-game winning streak where they have topped the 40-point mark three times. 

Remarkably, the 49ers have been able to light up scoreboards without a true WR1 on the perimeter. While some would cite star tight end Kittle as the undisputed No. 1 option in the passing game, the 49ers have generated solid production out of a wide receiver corps headlined by Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings, Demarcus Robinson and Kendrick Bourne. No disrespect to the 49ers’ talented pass catchers, but there is not a wideout in the group who will prompt a defensive coordinator to feature double coverage prominently in the game plan. 

Although a healthy and engaged Aiyuk would have changed the equation as a legitimate WR1, the six-year pro walked out on the team, forcing Shanahan to build the passing game around Kittle and running back Christian McCaffrey. With the All-Pro tight end sidelined for most of the season, the 49ers’ offense has relied heavily on CMC to create and exploit mismatches all over the field. As a talented multipurpose playmaker with 12,922 scrimmage yards on his resume, the two-time All-Pro is on the verge of posting the third "1,000/100" (1,000 rush yards/100 receptions) of his career with 1,179 rush yards and 96 receptions through 16 games. 

While those eye-popping numbers immediately catch the attention of defensive play callers, CMC’s skills make it nearly impossible to minimize his impact as a playmaker. The 5-foot-11, 210-pounder possesses a rare combination of speed, power and explosiveness that enables him to pick up the dirty yards between the tackles, while twisting defenders into knots as a perimeter playmaker and route runner. With the veteran running back commanding significant attention as a runner (plus-one box) and receiver (double coverage), the 49ers utilize McCaffrey like the "Queen" on the chessboard to dictate the terms and create opportunities for the veteran and others. 

For a team without a legitimate WR1, the inside-out strategy has enabled the 49ers to efficiently move the ball through the air, while Shanahan’s clever scheming has unlocked the running game despite an unheralded offensive line littered with former mid-to-late round picks (Spencer Burford, 2022 fourth-rounder; Jake Brendel, 2020 street free agent; Dominick Puni, 2024 third-rounder and Colton McKivitz, 2020 fifth-rounder). Although Trent Williams is a former first-rounder and future Hall of Fame inductee, the 49ers’ meticulously crafted zone and gap schemes have helped the unit play better than its pedigree. 

Given the offense’s continued success with or without their offensive stars, Shanahan deserves kudos for his whiteboard wizardry. Not to be outdone, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh has also shown his chalkboard brilliance by working around the absences of standouts Warner and Bosa to field a competitive defense.

The former New York Jets head coach (now in his second stint as DC in San Francisco) has transformed a collection of newbies and unheralded defenders into a feisty unit that specializes in situational football, particularly on third down, in the red zone and in two-minute situations. Although the defense does not rank among the top five in those categories, the 49ers have repeatedly made key stops in critical moments. In addition, they have limited the "explosives" (runs of 10-plus yards and passes of 20-plus yards) and forced opponents to drive the length of the field on "dink-and-dunk" passes. 

From a philosophical standpoint, Saleh’s approach is not unique, but getting a group of young, inexperienced players to buy in and execute the plan requires patience and persistence from the veteran defensive assistant. Moreover, it requires building chemistry within a group that features four rookies (Upton Stout, Marques Sigle, C.J. West and Alfred Collins) rotating in and out of a lineup that features mostly "sophomores" (Malik Mustapha, Renardo Green and Tatum Bethune are second-year pros) and "juniors" (Dee Winters, Sam Okuayinonu and Ji’Ayir Brown are third-year pros) at the top of the depth chart. 

With a small group of "castoffs" (Bryce Huff, Keion White and Yatur Gross-Matos being acquired via trade or free agency) thrown into the mix, Saleh has restored the 49ers’ defensive reputation despite working with a collection of unheralded and underrated defenders occupying key roles. Although the unit’s performance has been far from perfect, the defense’s improvement with so many inexperienced players is a testament to the staff’s teaching, progression, and attention to detail. 

As a group that has repeatedly come up with late-game stops or game-winning turnovers, the 49ers’ defense makes enough plays to complement an explosive offense that forces opponents to deviate from their original game plans to keep up in high-scoring contests. While the 49ers’ complementary football approach differs from the "ground-and-pound" and "shut ‘em down" game plans of the early 2020s, the new philosophy reflects the growth and adaptability of a head coach worthy of winning NFL Coach of the Year honors at season’s end. 

Bucky Brooks is an NFL analyst for FOX Sports. He also breaks down the game for NFL Network and as a cohost of the "Moving the Sticks" podcast. Follow him on Twitter @BuckyBrooks.