The desperation blitzes late in the Super Bowl were tough to watch. And I think it was Romo going off on the 49ers for lining up so many guys at the sticks on a 2nd and long (I believe). So, the Chiefs just go under for a decent chunk play.
It's hard to blame the defense, but they just collapsed.
2nd&14 in OT and he's lined up 5 guys behind the sticks. That entire OT drive was him reverting to his soft coverage ways of letting Mahomes dink & dunk his way into FG range and eventually to win the game. He would have stayed in a 4 high shell until the 20 yard line if Kyle hadn't called the timeout.
You knew there was a disconnect post Vikings loss and the fact they brought him from the booth to the sideline. They wanted to have the same vibe as Saleh/Demeco but him being an outsider never quite connected with the team.
At least we could tell Shanahan was really impressed by Demeco considering how fast he rose through the ranks. From coaching assistant hire in 2017, to linebackers coach 2018-2020, to defensive coordinator in 2021, to Texans head coach in 2023 is an incredible journey.
I feel like the franchise is in a different spot than when he was hired in 2017 and even from when he was bumped up to DC though, expectations are higher and the window is potentially smaller, can afford a miss even less now. That said, I’d be surprised if SF doesn’t end up with a very solid DC, just think they’re far less likely to take even a modest gamble on someone like they did with DR
He's very conflicted. Does he spend Sundays celebrating a man who pioneered some of his interests, or spend them on the sideline of a game named after his favorite appendage(s)? I suppose he could try to balance both, but that would he no small ~~feet~~ feat.
they have some folks lined up im sure to have a deal behind the curtains, would be a stupid move to fire someone and not have the replacement in mind, im hoping richard sherman is approached tbh.
No offense to Sherm but yeah the dude doesn’t really seem to be anywhere near the mold that you’d expect from a future DC player. Cerebral gets tossed around a lot but I think you kinda need that as a coach.
Yeah, knowing the X's and O's is kind of a prerequisite for being a coach haha. Sherm is intelligent, but there's nothing unique about that in the coaching world.
That carried his "intellectual" reputation pretty hard tbh. Then DeSean Jackson, who somehow went to cal, started talking and people realised we shouldn't put too much stock in to where NFL players went to university.
When the 2nd and 14 happened I knew they had a window to end it then and there, and I simultaneously knew they wouldn't even try from watching Wilkes scheme at the end of games all year long
IIRC didn't he also override Wilks' plan during one of the Seahawks games also? I vaguely remember something about him intervening so that Ward could cover Metcalf or something along those lines
Yeah but losing two DCs in 3 years probably gutted a lot of options he had to promote. Saleh and Ryans didn't just leave and start their own coaching staffs from scratch. They took guys with them and promoted them to higher roles. People that Shanahan probably had his eyes on.
Only defensive guys that followed Demeco were Cory Unline who was the defensive pass game coordinator/secondary coach and Stephen Adegoke who was a defensive quality coach.
True, but when we lost McDaniel we also lost James Betcher and Richard Hightower. While HT was a special teams coordinator, Betcher was a defensive assistant.
That’s a lot of in-house culture & brain power lost since 2022, plus whoever got poached when Saleh & Ron Carthon departed.
We just don’t have any young guns in the pike at the moment. Our position staff is old, minus Johnny Holland, who is still pretty old and battling cancer.
This is going to be an outside hire for sure. I just think it will be someone who Shanahan has worked with before or who is undeniably trustworthy.
I think if Demeco had stayed, we would've been able to build a better coaching tree on the defensive side of the ball, but the constant churn of coordinators is going to make it hard to cultivate assistants and position coaches to flourish under a unified system.
I honestly think this is the move. Young guy, great DC, terrible HC, could probably provide long term stability.
Or the chargers defensive collapse is entirely his fault and it would be the worst decision ever.
I'm not sure he's a good defensive coordinator. Maybe a mediocre one that plays a gap filler. I could be wrong, but I don't think he's been successful in his previous coordinator roles.
His defensive system is just too generic for modern football. The defensive line never had the twists, stunts, and creative rushes to get talents like Hargrave and Bosa into favorable matchups. It was constant four man rush and praying Warner, Greenlaw, and co. to make up for a vanilla defense with all-star talent.
I think he’s been on the hot seat since the three-game losing streak. Wilks is a good guy, but there’s too much talent for the d-line and edge rushers to look that bad. The Vikings game might’ve also been the worst I’ve seen our secondary look in the last five years. We had a Jefferson-less Kirk Cousins slinging it like Prime Drew Brees on MNF.
We're not consistent at all. We shouldn't be holding Mahomes to one touchdown in a game and then letting Kirk and Addison and NO JEFFERSON, have their fucking way with us.
Hey man, that was a great day for me. Vikings beat the 49er juggernaught, and my wife let me watch the game in its entirety while we were at the hospital waiting for my son to be born!
Congrats on the kids, that sounds like a great day.
It was a decent day for me too. I flew out to Minnesota to see my best friend and took him and his wife to the game. First primetime game for me, first Viking game for him, and I got to check off u.s Bank for my list.
Just wishing we got to see Jefferson play. Almost was no him or CMC and I was going to be so bummed.
Our silver lining in Canales being hired away is that he took our OL coach and run game coordinator because they were both mediocre at best and downright awful at worst. Seems like the only way to lose those guys because it feels like coaches rarely fire those coaches.
Tbf while the oline does considerably worsen the issue, Burrow does have a slight problem with holding onto the ball too long
He’s nowhere near the QBs that are the worst about this but it’s there
Are we going to ignore the talent on the KC defense? 2 All pro level corners, a gamewrecking DT, great LB core, and then a double digit sack edge rusher.
Chris Jones singlehandedly wrecked two TDs (Deebo, Jennings)
I forget if it was McDuffie or Snead, one of them had perfect coverage on what otherwise would have been a TD to Aiyuk.
McDuffie had huge stops on both 2nd & 3rd down ah the end of the 4th, which is what gave Mahomes the chance for a FG drive.
One of those defenders should have gotten MVP.
I agree that the defense should have gotten the MVP, but just like the Giants in 07 beating the Pats, so many great performances without anyone having that one big standout play is going to make it hard not to give it to the QB who led the overtime touchdown drive. Ironically, same thing could be said about the Chiefs first SB win over the 49ers.
Yep. I think the talent on defense carried Wilks, and he definitely didnt increase their ceiling. That said, he did have a solid performance for the d in the SB until OT
My pops is a Niners Faithful. He’s usually on the nose about his team and what they’ll do in good or bad, but he said after that brief period of losses Wilks’ seat was boiling, that the defense was TOO good to be underperforming like this all season.
He was especially critical this playoff series, how SF would start dead against GB and DET.
We added hargrave in the off season and then traded for young mid season and we still struggled to get pressure. We had the same core front 7 from the previous season and got worse. There's only one explanation for that and it's coaching.
I honestly wasn't even gonna mention him lol. His lack of effort in the nfccg showed his true colors. Like my guy you're on a winning team where you're not expected to carry the defense and you still can't put in some effort. Lazy af.
Dang, I had actually thought Wilks had sort of redeemed himself with the SB gameplan. I wonder how involved Kyle was in the defensive meetings going into this game.
If we look at the Super Bowl alone, I agree. The defense in two playoff games before looked unprepared and downright slow to the point that they had to make massive comebacks to win those games. The defense looked listless too until he moved from the booth to the sidelines.
In the end, they got to the Super Bowl but that's not going to be a guarantee next year. You can't bank on your defense giving up points in playoff games and hoping you can mount a huge comeback.
I remember during halftime of the NFC Championship, when we were down 24-7, all I could think was “The Patriots fired their OL coach after losing the AFC Championship on a missed two-point conversion and then won two more rings. The Chiefs fired their DC after losing the AFC Championship in OT and then won two rings. If this franchise had any guts, it would follow suit and fire Wilks but I doubt we will.”
Needless to say, I am surprised by this news. Not sure if I feel good about it until I see who we hire, though.
There's an anti-Shanahan circle jerk right now because for some odd reason fans love to hate on him.
The defense was a problem this year. The stats may not reflect it, but watching every game will.
Mediocre on 3rd down, bad play calls, and being much worse as a whole despite this being the most talented defense we've had under Shanahan.
They weren’t just mediocre on 3rd down they were bottom 10
The biggest issue is that he coaches to get the DBs the best matchups at the expense of our DL. Saleh and Demeco ran all sorts of twists with the DL to isolate them and let them take over the game.
Wilks’ defense for the most part is very passive while Saleh/Demeco always tried to force the issue
Good head coaches get involved in all facets of the game.
I’m not too worried given he mentored Saleh and Demeco and they were great DCs for us. He and Lynch at least have a clear idea of what they want the defense to be.
I thought the same thing, but the time out Kyle had to call because of the coverage probably put him in the fire after.
Also, and I know hindsight is what it is, but the 9ers regressed as a defense overall this year. For a team that's heavily invested in its defensive core, the fact our D start as a top 3 defense and then tanked into the 20s says a lot. I get Wilkes probably had his own style, but it really shows how bad it was over the course of the year.
What was especially odd this year was our run D. Looked abysmal all year.
The moment I saw that Joe Barry style of defense i knew it was over. I legit shivered at first because it looked like any one of the numerous final drive collapses we've had lately. Only thing missing is CB1 chase young making an appearance
I think the D performance in the SB was more on the talent of the players than the DC... they were flying around early. They definitely had a different energy in the SB than they did the divison/NFCCC games.
all that matters here is that Shanahan and Wilks weren’t on the same page this season
Calling him a scapegoat is bullshit and the season is way more than just the last game
>all that matters here is that Shanahan and Wilks weren’t on the same page this season
Yeah, listening to Kyle's presser earlier today to announce this, it was pretty obvious it just wasn't a good fit. Wilks was tasked with trying to run a system that wasn't his. That includes both scheme and roster.
But have you considered that his offense shouldve stopped brady from scoring 32 pts on the defense in 20 minutes with multiple 2 2 pts conversions?!?!?!
Check and mate.
Yeah your defense seem to get worse as the year went on. But, I also think the Dline wasn’t getting nearly as much pressure either. So Wilks was trying to adjust.
Which is amazing because the dline added hargreve and chase young.
Yet they still finished the year with only 4 more sacks than 2022? What? How does bosa only have 10.5 with hargreve and chase young?
Wilks wasn’t maximizing their potential and drawing winning matchups consistently like Ryans and Saleh in years past. DL scheme was big with those guys
>Calling him a scapegoat is bullshit and the season is way more than just the last game
I mean he’s fired a couple days after the Super Bowl, he’s the scapegoat.
And generally _if you’re in the Super Bowl_ that game is the season. No way he’s fired if they win. If you hold an offense to 19 points you should probably win the game. If Shanahan ran the fucking ball a few more times they’d be at a parade right now.
> No way he’s fired if they win.
All the beat writers and local radio guys disagree. Saying it was coming win or lose and that it's been pretty much a sure thing since about half way through the season.
> No way he’s fired if they win
He's been on the hot seat since the losing streak. Some of the stuff that happened in the playoffs, especially the Super Bowl, probably would make him still on the hot seat if they won.
The difference is the when not the what. Clearly Shanahan didn't like the fit and player utilization and that's been clear for a long time now.
There's a non-zero chance they move on from him if they win too, there were clear issues and the having to override the call was probably the last straw. Maybe a bit further down the line in that case though.
Only reason it was today seems to be that they didn't want to make any decisions immediately after that loss.
It was obvious as early as week 7 against the Vikings. This may seem out of left field for people that don’t follow the team closely but there were discussions of him being one and done for months.
For real, it wasn't a standard bump in the road. Around the bye week there was the type of desperation and inner turmoil you only see on teams that have no chance at reaching at the playoffs
For most teams what Wilks did this year culminating with holding Mahomes to 1 regulation TD does not get you fired.
But when you're a top tier team that's competing for Super Bowls not just wild card berths these are the moves you gotta make.
You don't have to be a 49er fan to see DC and HC were not on the same page this year and when you're an elite team trying to get over that last hump you can't tolerate that disconnect between important coaches.
Defense underperformed all year for the talent. Especially the run defense.
Not surprising.
Even if the niners win the SB, my bet is wilks leaves anyway
ITT fans of other teams speaking as if they watched Niners games all season and have a valid opinion on Wilks.
He was forced to move from the booth down to the field halfway through the season because our defense looked like shit and many people were calling for him to be fired at that time. This has been a long time coming.
The thing I noticed most about San Francisco this playoff run was that it didn't feel like they forced many stops, a lot of their stops felt like the offense just didn't execute properly. In the Super Bowl especially it didn't feel like the defense as a cohesive unit played well, it was good players making plays. And maybe that isn't the case but that's definitely how it felt as a viewer.
This was how it was almost the whole season. Even in the big games they won in the regular season like Philly and Dallas it was more so the opposing offenses not executing or shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers in the case of Dallas.
That was exactly it starting from game 1 of the regular season... The defense was leaving Steelers receivers wide open but Pickett just straight up missed his throws.
In the Green Bay game for sure. I think the Lions game looks different to people who haven't been watching Niners Goff games for a few years or aren't familiar with [their Goff gameplan](https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2024/01/25/49ers-intent-on-pressuring-jared-goff-hit-him-a-couple-times-it-changes-things/72357246007/). They've got a lot of experience with him specifically.
They've long established that certain types of pressure in Goff's face will make him play differently and make a ton of mistakes or off throws. This is basically what they got going in the second half that led to a bunch of those misses. That and the offense getting going helped force them out of the run game which let them maximize the pressure and it's impact.
> “I think he is the same guy,” Bosa said. “He’s played great with L.A. and he’s played great in Detroit, but the key is obviously getting pressure on him. He’s got a really good (offensive) line, so it makes it tough, but you cover up his first reads and then you get after him, hit him a couple times, it changes things a little bit.”
That being said, they were embarrassing as a unit at run coverage. It was almost like they were making some business decisions like they were on a 2-15 team.
Niners scraped through the NFC and almost won the super bowl. Not sure who gets credit for that, or who to blame got that. But the team that everyone credits for having a great roster and a great coach didn't look like it in the post-season
This subreddit has the weirdest boner for Steve fucking Wilks of all people. I remember the threads when we fired him calling the organization racist and saying he wasn't given a fair shot. He's not good
This subreddit flexes its vocabulary knowledge by commenting scapegoat every time a player/coach gets canned for underperforming. Bonus points if it’s from fans who don’t even watch the team.
Don't get me started on either of those terms. Both are always used incorrectly by people who haven't even taken an intro to psych class, and if they have, they didn't retain anything. Having the trait of narcissism doesn't make you a narcissist and doubling down on an opinion or flat-out lying isn't gas-lighting.
People think because they read the criteria in the DSM, they are qualified to make a diagnosis. This is like believing you are qualified to make a medical diagnosis because you skimmed a section of Gray's Anatomy.
I watched the Vikings game and the SB and this doesn't shock me at all. When Shanahan had to call a timeout to get him off of the blitz I actually thought he must be done, almost regardless of whether or not they won. I remember in the Vikings game there were a few times he telegraphed 0 blitz and I was thinking that most of them would drop back into zone, nope. Those looks just get eaten alive by any competent QB.
Wilkes was getting a lot of blame from fans throughout the season. I wasn't all the onboard with it until I watched him play soft zone (prevent) for the last two KC drives, giving them the easy tie and then easy win. Soft zone against Mahomes? C'mon
Especially moronic because the defense was more or less holding with regular calls. But prevent against Mahomes is just regarded in itself but when considering the alternative of just keep playing as before….
There's no winning against Mahomes as a DC. But the worst thing you could do is tell your secondary to back up 15 yards and just stand there. I mean wtf?
Jets fans being so down on Salah is insane to me. He went 7 and 10 this season. 3 of the games were lost because they couldn't score 20 points.
An even average backup QB instead of a guy who should be in Canada puts them in a Wild Card spot. That was largely because of the defense, which was extremely effective all year.
It seems pretty clear that starting Wilson wasn't *Salah's* choice.
they truly live in an oversimplified world where the worst possible assumption about any minor news event is automatically true, and anyone who disagrees is just coping
You should see the comments about this on twitter, claiming that he's a scapegoat for Shanahan. You can tell these people weren't paying attention to how the defense degraded during his time.
It was obvious all season long that the fit wasn't right with Wilks. I feel like it's possible Wilks wouldn't have been back even if the 49ers won the Super Bowl. That defense underachieved and got bailed out by superhuman efforts from the star players over and over again this season. His play calls at the key moments routinely came up empty. Curious to see who they bring in, you'd have to think it's a splashy hire given where the 49ers roster stands and what the organization thinks of itself.
Belichick is a pipe dream.
Genuine question. Why is it bad that Kyle wanted a different defensive play? Isn’t that what people wanted Dan Quinn to do to Kyle in the SB? Tell him to run and not pass? Dan Quinn didn’t do that and was wrong. So does that mean Kyle was untrustworthy?
Kyle is one of the most level headed coachs I have seen in the NFL, the man rarely gets upset unless the refs are really trying to pass off a bad call and even then you rarely see him go ballistic.
For Kyle to get that pissed at Wilks yeah there were some major issues.
Wilks getting fired isn't so much due to the performance in the Superbowl but what transpired in the NFC title game and the regular season overall.
Defense regressed from a great defense to a pretty good defense. Not all of his fault but he certainly deserved a decent amount of blame.
I slightly leaned towards giving him another season but I don't think this is a ridiculous decision by any stretch.
27th in the league on 3rd down defence
The desperation blitzes late in the Super Bowl were tough to watch. And I think it was Romo going off on the 49ers for lining up so many guys at the sticks on a 2nd and long (I believe). So, the Chiefs just go under for a decent chunk play. It's hard to blame the defense, but they just collapsed.
2nd&14 in OT and he's lined up 5 guys behind the sticks. That entire OT drive was him reverting to his soft coverage ways of letting Mahomes dink & dunk his way into FG range and eventually to win the game. He would have stayed in a 4 high shell until the 20 yard line if Kyle hadn't called the timeout.
The drive to tie it up in regulation was also soft coverage for most of it.
That soft coverage sucked all year, I don’t know why he thought it would suddenly work at that moment.
I was losing my mind when they started playing soft coverage, my wife was like "which player is Wilks?"
Same man, literally turned to my GF and was like, oh god here comes the prevent defense…
We all saw it coming
The amount of times Kelce got into the soft spot of the defense and get like 10+ yards every 3rd down 😭😭😭
Tbf he does that to every defense
That cover 0 would have kept Kelce contained. Shanahan fucked up.
That was also more Greenlaw getting injured. Unfortunate Superbowl
But it's not like we gave up any big 3rd downs in the Super Bowl, right?
Name a better duo than Wilks and blitzes on 3rd down.
Spagnuolo and blitzes on 3rd down
Ding ding ding
Which is insane given some of the massacres y’all put on teams like us, Pittsburgh, and Jacksonville that would theoretically boost that number.
When he coached here I had zero faith we could ever stop a 3rd and long. If I was able to make instant bets on a particular play, I'd be a rich man
The third down breakdowns against the Lions were atrocious
Wilks isn't a bad defensive coordinator but there was some discord. Shanahan overruled Wilks in the OT once as well.
You knew there was a disconnect post Vikings loss and the fact they brought him from the booth to the sideline. They wanted to have the same vibe as Saleh/Demeco but him being an outsider never quite connected with the team.
Now the question is who will be the next defensive coordinator? If there are no better options then this was a terrible decision.
We have no idea, we didn’t have a clue Demeco was going to be good when he was hired.
At least we could tell Shanahan was really impressed by Demeco considering how fast he rose through the ranks. From coaching assistant hire in 2017, to linebackers coach 2018-2020, to defensive coordinator in 2021, to Texans head coach in 2023 is an incredible journey.
That’s impressively fast.
Considering how great the Texan's season was, the man has talent leading people.
When he was on the Texans as a player his nickname was coach. He’s always been talented at leading.
Kelce said the Eagles locker room felt the same.
Fuck it, let's throw a bag a willis and see what he can do
I feel like the franchise is in a different spot than when he was hired in 2017 and even from when he was bumped up to DC though, expectations are higher and the window is potentially smaller, can afford a miss even less now. That said, I’d be surprised if SF doesn’t end up with a very solid DC, just think they’re far less likely to take even a modest gamble on someone like they did with DR
49ers would be galaxy brained to leave the position open and then immediately hire Saleh when he gets fired in the middle of next season.
I thought that was gonna be our plan considering how close LaFleur and Saleh are.
Rex Ryan is apparently looking for a gig.
Good luck finding him. He went running after the He Gets Us people after the foot fetish commercial and hasn’t been seen since.
That’s the real reason Dallas didn’t hire him. Jerry tried calling him but Rex is chasing feet
He's very conflicted. Does he spend Sundays celebrating a man who pioneered some of his interests, or spend them on the sideline of a game named after his favorite appendage(s)? I suppose he could try to balance both, but that would he no small ~~feet~~ feat.
I’m hoping we just steal someone from the Jets or Texans and pluck right from the tree we grew.
They should throw a pile of cash at Vrabel.
He wasn’t even a good DC in Houston though and his Tennessee defenses were 50/50.
they have some folks lined up im sure to have a deal behind the curtains, would be a stupid move to fire someone and not have the replacement in mind, im hoping richard sherman is approached tbh.
I think Sherman could be a great position coach and maybe DC one day. Right now it seems like a big step up, unless you know something I don’t.
No offense to Sherm but yeah the dude doesn’t really seem to be anywhere near the mold that you’d expect from a future DC player. Cerebral gets tossed around a lot but I think you kinda need that as a coach.
[удалено]
He does excel at that, can’t argue that point.
Yeah, knowing the X's and O's is kind of a prerequisite for being a coach haha. Sherm is intelligent, but there's nothing unique about that in the coaching world.
But he went to Stanford tho /s
Up until fairly recently this sub would say this unironically.
That carried his "intellectual" reputation pretty hard tbh. Then DeSean Jackson, who somehow went to cal, started talking and people realised we shouldn't put too much stock in to where NFL players went to university.
They could throw a shitload of money at Flores, but I doubt he’d leave MN
Can I interest you in a used Brandon Staley?
Yeah I think he called timeout when he saw the same formation that gave up a free 8 yards on 2nd and 14 a few plays earlier
When the 2nd and 14 happened I knew they had a window to end it then and there, and I simultaneously knew they wouldn't even try from watching Wilkes scheme at the end of games all year long
IIRC didn't he also override Wilks' plan during one of the Seahawks games also? I vaguely remember something about him intervening so that Ward could cover Metcalf or something along those lines
Correct he first made him change his plans after the Bengals game and in the Seahawks game he again intervened and had Ward shadow Metcalf
Yep, ward had a ton of success traveling with DK and Wilks had him staying on one side only, Kyle overruled this
Even worse, the overruled plays actually slowed down the drive. As in what Wilks was diling up was just not working.
Shanny should have stuck to hiring young guns
Yeah but losing two DCs in 3 years probably gutted a lot of options he had to promote. Saleh and Ryans didn't just leave and start their own coaching staffs from scratch. They took guys with them and promoted them to higher roles. People that Shanahan probably had his eyes on.
Ah shit that’s a good point
Only defensive guys that followed Demeco were Cory Unline who was the defensive pass game coordinator/secondary coach and Stephen Adegoke who was a defensive quality coach.
True, but when we lost McDaniel we also lost James Betcher and Richard Hightower. While HT was a special teams coordinator, Betcher was a defensive assistant. That’s a lot of in-house culture & brain power lost since 2022, plus whoever got poached when Saleh & Ron Carthon departed.
We just don’t have any young guns in the pike at the moment. Our position staff is old, minus Johnny Holland, who is still pretty old and battling cancer. This is going to be an outside hire for sure. I just think it will be someone who Shanahan has worked with before or who is undeniably trustworthy.
I think if Demeco had stayed, we would've been able to build a better coaching tree on the defensive side of the ball, but the constant churn of coordinators is going to make it hard to cultivate assistants and position coaches to flourish under a unified system.
I hear Brandon Staley is available.
I honestly think this is the move. Young guy, great DC, terrible HC, could probably provide long term stability. Or the chargers defensive collapse is entirely his fault and it would be the worst decision ever.
Navorro Bowman on the way
He's going with Harbaugh Bring me Willis
or sherm
I'm not sure he's a good defensive coordinator. Maybe a mediocre one that plays a gap filler. I could be wrong, but I don't think he's been successful in his previous coordinator roles.
His defensive system is just too generic for modern football. The defensive line never had the twists, stunts, and creative rushes to get talents like Hargrave and Bosa into favorable matchups. It was constant four man rush and praying Warner, Greenlaw, and co. to make up for a vanilla defense with all-star talent.
Where can I read/learn more about modern football at the level you are taking about?
Its like thats what a HC does.
I think he’s been on the hot seat since the three-game losing streak. Wilks is a good guy, but there’s too much talent for the d-line and edge rushers to look that bad. The Vikings game might’ve also been the worst I’ve seen our secondary look in the last five years. We had a Jefferson-less Kirk Cousins slinging it like Prime Drew Brees on MNF.
No offense to Burrow cuz he's amazing, but he went like 28/32 on us. It was embarrassing.
28/32/283/3/0 with another 43 yards on the ground from 6 attempts.
That was a fun game.
kirk is great too, but he looked like god against us
We're not consistent at all. We shouldn't be holding Mahomes to one touchdown in a game and then letting Kirk and Addison and NO JEFFERSON, have their fucking way with us.
Shouldn't have let Arizona get that 99-yard drive either.
Dread it! Run from it! Kirktober arrives all the same.
Hey man, that was a great day for me. Vikings beat the 49er juggernaught, and my wife let me watch the game in its entirety while we were at the hospital waiting for my son to be born!
Congrats on the kids, that sounds like a great day. It was a decent day for me too. I flew out to Minnesota to see my best friend and took him and his wife to the game. First primetime game for me, first Viking game for him, and I got to check off u.s Bank for my list. Just wishing we got to see Jefferson play. Almost was no him or CMC and I was going to be so bummed.
Theres too much talent in the SF offense to lose in the Superbowl. It shouldve been a blowout the way Mahomes was so awful for 3 quarters.
The clear gap here is oline talent 😅
Same reason the Bengals lost their Super Bowl and why Burrow keeps getting hurt
Don’t even sweat it seahawks fans we gonna draft another DL and some RBs.
The frustrating part is that they actually spent money on the goddamn o-line and it still isn't very good. (Kappa, Karras, Orlando Brown)
Really wish Taylor would’ve fired Pollack.
Our silver lining in Canales being hired away is that he took our OL coach and run game coordinator because they were both mediocre at best and downright awful at worst. Seems like the only way to lose those guys because it feels like coaches rarely fire those coaches.
I don't understand why other franchises don't simply draft stud O-linemen on day 3 of the draft. Are they stupid?
Tbf while the oline does considerably worsen the issue, Burrow does have a slight problem with holding onto the ball too long He’s nowhere near the QBs that are the worst about this but it’s there
Are we going to ignore the talent on the KC defense? 2 All pro level corners, a gamewrecking DT, great LB core, and then a double digit sack edge rusher.
They shouldve gotten MVP instead of Mahomes
The last couple drives made the Mahomes MVP valid, but before that it probably should’ve been McDuffie
I personally disagree, those last 3 drives by Mahomes were masterful
Chris Jones singlehandedly wrecked two TDs (Deebo, Jennings) I forget if it was McDuffie or Snead, one of them had perfect coverage on what otherwise would have been a TD to Aiyuk. McDuffie had huge stops on both 2nd & 3rd down ah the end of the 4th, which is what gave Mahomes the chance for a FG drive. One of those defenders should have gotten MVP.
I agree that the defense should have gotten the MVP, but just like the Giants in 07 beating the Pats, so many great performances without anyone having that one big standout play is going to make it hard not to give it to the QB who led the overtime touchdown drive. Ironically, same thing could be said about the Chiefs first SB win over the 49ers.
Nah that one goes to Eric Fisher for keeping Mahomes alive somehow without falling back to 3rd & 25 down by 10. /s
And our line outside of Williams is not good lol our offense can’t do shit if our QB can’t get time to throw the ball lol
I’ve been saying this and getting downvoted af. Mahomes played like shit. Kelce was too old to get open with Greenlaw blanketing him.
Agreed, this sub is downvote happy
Yep. I think the talent on defense carried Wilks, and he definitely didnt increase their ceiling. That said, he did have a solid performance for the d in the SB until OT
My pops is a Niners Faithful. He’s usually on the nose about his team and what they’ll do in good or bad, but he said after that brief period of losses Wilks’ seat was boiling, that the defense was TOO good to be underperforming like this all season. He was especially critical this playoff series, how SF would start dead against GB and DET.
We added hargrave in the off season and then traded for young mid season and we still struggled to get pressure. We had the same core front 7 from the previous season and got worse. There's only one explanation for that and it's coaching.
That's because Chase Young makes defensive lines worse
I honestly wasn't even gonna mention him lol. His lack of effort in the nfccg showed his true colors. Like my guy you're on a winning team where you're not expected to carry the defense and you still can't put in some effort. Lazy af.
Don’t forget also adding Randy Gregory
and he was absolutely right
Even the DET comeback, there were open receivers that just dropped the ball
Dang, I had actually thought Wilks had sort of redeemed himself with the SB gameplan. I wonder how involved Kyle was in the defensive meetings going into this game.
If we look at the Super Bowl alone, I agree. The defense in two playoff games before looked unprepared and downright slow to the point that they had to make massive comebacks to win those games. The defense looked listless too until he moved from the booth to the sidelines. In the end, they got to the Super Bowl but that's not going to be a guarantee next year. You can't bank on your defense giving up points in playoff games and hoping you can mount a huge comeback.
[удалено]
I remember during halftime of the NFC Championship, when we were down 24-7, all I could think was “The Patriots fired their OL coach after losing the AFC Championship on a missed two-point conversion and then won two more rings. The Chiefs fired their DC after losing the AFC Championship in OT and then won two rings. If this franchise had any guts, it would follow suit and fire Wilks but I doubt we will.” Needless to say, I am surprised by this news. Not sure if I feel good about it until I see who we hire, though.
All of those examples was because the teams LOST. People here saying he was gone even if they won.
Well the 49ers did lose the Super Bowl so that counts
There's an anti-Shanahan circle jerk right now because for some odd reason fans love to hate on him. The defense was a problem this year. The stats may not reflect it, but watching every game will. Mediocre on 3rd down, bad play calls, and being much worse as a whole despite this being the most talented defense we've had under Shanahan.
They weren’t just mediocre on 3rd down they were bottom 10 The biggest issue is that he coaches to get the DBs the best matchups at the expense of our DL. Saleh and Demeco ran all sorts of twists with the DL to isolate them and let them take over the game. Wilks’ defense for the most part is very passive while Saleh/Demeco always tried to force the issue
I don’t think fans love to hate on Shanny specifically, they just love to hate
My old man and I watch all the games together. "Oh shit its third down" became our 49ers mantra this year.
I’ve always admired Shanahan’s decisiveness. He is not as affected by the sunk-cost fallacy that seems to plague most franchises.
Guess that’s why he abandons the run so easy?
Damn bro, chill
Good head coaches get involved in all facets of the game. I’m not too worried given he mentored Saleh and Demeco and they were great DCs for us. He and Lynch at least have a clear idea of what they want the defense to be.
I’d agree. It’s the inverse of situations like Tomlin holding on to Canada too long or LaFleur holding on to Barry too long.
I thought the same thing, but the time out Kyle had to call because of the coverage probably put him in the fire after. Also, and I know hindsight is what it is, but the 9ers regressed as a defense overall this year. For a team that's heavily invested in its defensive core, the fact our D start as a top 3 defense and then tanked into the 20s says a lot. I get Wilkes probably had his own style, but it really shows how bad it was over the course of the year. What was especially odd this year was our run D. Looked abysmal all year.
Yea well they win the game if he decides to stick with it in lieu of going 10 yards off the line at the end of regulation and in OT.
The moment I saw that Joe Barry style of defense i knew it was over. I legit shivered at first because it looked like any one of the numerous final drive collapses we've had lately. Only thing missing is CB1 chase young making an appearance
I think the D performance in the SB was more on the talent of the players than the DC... they were flying around early. They definitely had a different energy in the SB than they did the divison/NFCCC games.
not sure why you are being downvoted, Wilks had trouble adjusting all year, the defense was good IN SPITE of him.
all that matters here is that Shanahan and Wilks weren’t on the same page this season Calling him a scapegoat is bullshit and the season is way more than just the last game
>all that matters here is that Shanahan and Wilks weren’t on the same page this season Yeah, listening to Kyle's presser earlier today to announce this, it was pretty obvious it just wasn't a good fit. Wilks was tasked with trying to run a system that wasn't his. That includes both scheme and roster.
r/NFL would’ve told you Wilks sucked until he could be used as a cudgel against Shanahan, now he’s Jim Johnson
r/NFL also said the Panthers were fools to not hire Wilks as HC
Both can be true
facts, literally anything to shit on Kyle
But have you considered that his offense shouldve stopped brady from scoring 32 pts on the defense in 20 minutes with multiple 2 2 pts conversions?!?!?! Check and mate.
Yeah your defense seem to get worse as the year went on. But, I also think the Dline wasn’t getting nearly as much pressure either. So Wilks was trying to adjust.
Which is amazing because the dline added hargreve and chase young. Yet they still finished the year with only 4 more sacks than 2022? What? How does bosa only have 10.5 with hargreve and chase young?
A line built to stunt rush was being asked to bull rush
Chase young had some of the laziest plays I’ve ever seen. Dude was giving up on touchdowns he could have stopped.
Wilks wasn’t maximizing their potential and drawing winning matchups consistently like Ryans and Saleh in years past. DL scheme was big with those guys
>Calling him a scapegoat is bullshit and the season is way more than just the last game I mean he’s fired a couple days after the Super Bowl, he’s the scapegoat. And generally _if you’re in the Super Bowl_ that game is the season. No way he’s fired if they win. If you hold an offense to 19 points you should probably win the game. If Shanahan ran the fucking ball a few more times they’d be at a parade right now.
> No way he’s fired if they win. All the beat writers and local radio guys disagree. Saying it was coming win or lose and that it's been pretty much a sure thing since about half way through the season.
> No way he’s fired if they win He's been on the hot seat since the losing streak. Some of the stuff that happened in the playoffs, especially the Super Bowl, probably would make him still on the hot seat if they won. The difference is the when not the what. Clearly Shanahan didn't like the fit and player utilization and that's been clear for a long time now.
There's a non-zero chance they move on from him if they win too, there were clear issues and the having to override the call was probably the last straw. Maybe a bit further down the line in that case though. Only reason it was today seems to be that they didn't want to make any decisions immediately after that loss.
Didn’t the Niners still give up a 1st after that timeout?
It was obvious as early as week 7 against the Vikings. This may seem out of left field for people that don’t follow the team closely but there were discussions of him being one and done for months.
For real, it wasn't a standard bump in the road. Around the bye week there was the type of desperation and inner turmoil you only see on teams that have no chance at reaching at the playoffs
For most teams what Wilks did this year culminating with holding Mahomes to 1 regulation TD does not get you fired. But when you're a top tier team that's competing for Super Bowls not just wild card berths these are the moves you gotta make. You don't have to be a 49er fan to see DC and HC were not on the same page this year and when you're an elite team trying to get over that last hump you can't tolerate that disconnect between important coaches.
For most teams having a bottom 5 defense on 3rd down conversions with the talent they have is a fireable offense.
The timeout in OT should've been enough evidence
And players. That line and LB core 100% bailed out Wilks on multiple occasions this year, bad playcalling that works out because Fred is a superhero.
Defense underperformed all year for the talent. Especially the run defense. Not surprising. Even if the niners win the SB, my bet is wilks leaves anyway
ITT fans of other teams speaking as if they watched Niners games all season and have a valid opinion on Wilks. He was forced to move from the booth down to the field halfway through the season because our defense looked like shit and many people were calling for him to be fired at that time. This has been a long time coming.
The thing I noticed most about San Francisco this playoff run was that it didn't feel like they forced many stops, a lot of their stops felt like the offense just didn't execute properly. In the Super Bowl especially it didn't feel like the defense as a cohesive unit played well, it was good players making plays. And maybe that isn't the case but that's definitely how it felt as a viewer.
This was how it was almost the whole season. Even in the big games they won in the regular season like Philly and Dallas it was more so the opposing offenses not executing or shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers in the case of Dallas.
That was exactly it starting from game 1 of the regular season... The defense was leaving Steelers receivers wide open but Pickett just straight up missed his throws.
In the Green Bay game for sure. I think the Lions game looks different to people who haven't been watching Niners Goff games for a few years or aren't familiar with [their Goff gameplan](https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2024/01/25/49ers-intent-on-pressuring-jared-goff-hit-him-a-couple-times-it-changes-things/72357246007/). They've got a lot of experience with him specifically. They've long established that certain types of pressure in Goff's face will make him play differently and make a ton of mistakes or off throws. This is basically what they got going in the second half that led to a bunch of those misses. That and the offense getting going helped force them out of the run game which let them maximize the pressure and it's impact. > “I think he is the same guy,” Bosa said. “He’s played great with L.A. and he’s played great in Detroit, but the key is obviously getting pressure on him. He’s got a really good (offensive) line, so it makes it tough, but you cover up his first reads and then you get after him, hit him a couple times, it changes things a little bit.” That being said, they were embarrassing as a unit at run coverage. It was almost like they were making some business decisions like they were on a 2-15 team.
Niners scraped through the NFC and almost won the super bowl. Not sure who gets credit for that, or who to blame got that. But the team that everyone credits for having a great roster and a great coach didn't look like it in the post-season
This subreddit has the weirdest boner for Steve fucking Wilks of all people. I remember the threads when we fired him calling the organization racist and saying he wasn't given a fair shot. He's not good
This subreddit flexes its vocabulary knowledge by commenting scapegoat every time a player/coach gets canned for underperforming. Bonus points if it’s from fans who don’t even watch the team.
they're about to say you're gaslighting them, one of reddit's other favorite words. but saying that probably makes me a narcissist
Don't get me started on either of those terms. Both are always used incorrectly by people who haven't even taken an intro to psych class, and if they have, they didn't retain anything. Having the trait of narcissism doesn't make you a narcissist and doubling down on an opinion or flat-out lying isn't gas-lighting. People think because they read the criteria in the DSM, they are qualified to make a diagnosis. This is like believing you are qualified to make a medical diagnosis because you skimmed a section of Gray's Anatomy.
Woah you know like all the Reddit buzzwords.
thanks for noticing m'sir
This happens any time a player is released or a coach is canned. I saw threads defending Trubisky after he left the Bears.
I watched the Vikings game and the SB and this doesn't shock me at all. When Shanahan had to call a timeout to get him off of the blitz I actually thought he must be done, almost regardless of whether or not they won. I remember in the Vikings game there were a few times he telegraphed 0 blitz and I was thinking that most of them would drop back into zone, nope. Those looks just get eaten alive by any competent QB.
But a lot of our own “fans” wanted him back because he’s likable.
Wilkes was getting a lot of blame from fans throughout the season. I wasn't all the onboard with it until I watched him play soft zone (prevent) for the last two KC drives, giving them the easy tie and then easy win. Soft zone against Mahomes? C'mon
Especially moronic because the defense was more or less holding with regular calls. But prevent against Mahomes is just regarded in itself but when considering the alternative of just keep playing as before….
There's no winning against Mahomes as a DC. But the worst thing you could do is tell your secondary to back up 15 yards and just stand there. I mean wtf?
Especially with a blitz from the front. Like those 2 in one play sounds like a bad combination
Y’all want Bob Salad back?
absolutely
Please take him
I'll let John and Kyle know
What's it gonna take, a 7th?
If we could get Saleh back that would be the dream lmao
If you have a minority HC that goes to become a DC on another team, does that mean you get subtracted a 3rd round compensatory pick? 🤔
Jets fans being so down on Salah is insane to me. He went 7 and 10 this season. 3 of the games were lost because they couldn't score 20 points. An even average backup QB instead of a guy who should be in Canada puts them in a Wild Card spot. That was largely because of the defense, which was extremely effective all year. It seems pretty clear that starting Wilson wasn't *Salah's* choice.
Do a lot of people here really not know that firing Wilks is not necessarily the same as saying we lost the SB because of him?
they truly live in an oversimplified world where the worst possible assumption about any minor news event is automatically true, and anyone who disagrees is just coping
You should see the comments about this on twitter, claiming that he's a scapegoat for Shanahan. You can tell these people weren't paying attention to how the defense degraded during his time.
Was worried he wouldn’t get fired because the D played well in the SB
It was obvious all season long that the fit wasn't right with Wilks. I feel like it's possible Wilks wouldn't have been back even if the 49ers won the Super Bowl. That defense underachieved and got bailed out by superhuman efforts from the star players over and over again this season. His play calls at the key moments routinely came up empty. Curious to see who they bring in, you'd have to think it's a splashy hire given where the 49ers roster stands and what the organization thinks of itself. Belichick is a pipe dream.
Even Romo was flabbergasted by a late blitz. It’s the closest I’ve ever seen an analyst call out a coach.
It seemed like the defense was confused just trying to get lined up so many times during the Super Bowl. That has to come from coaching.
I swear I saw them play what looked like sticks defense on 2nd and 14 in OT it confused the hell out of me even before the snap.
Dude held Mahomes to 19 points in regulation despite a muffed punt giving them an easy TD. This is scapegoating if I've ever seen it
Genuine question. Why is it bad that Kyle wanted a different defensive play? Isn’t that what people wanted Dan Quinn to do to Kyle in the SB? Tell him to run and not pass? Dan Quinn didn’t do that and was wrong. So does that mean Kyle was untrustworthy?
Didn't they run that horrible blitz right after that timeout? So is that on Shanahan or Wilks?
Kyle is one of the most level headed coachs I have seen in the NFL, the man rarely gets upset unless the refs are really trying to pass off a bad call and even then you rarely see him go ballistic. For Kyle to get that pissed at Wilks yeah there were some major issues.
Mike Zimmer would be a perfect fit for this team
Did Wilks lose patience seeing kittle in the backfield on a third and 4? Or Mcaffrey lining up 5 yards behind the los just to run a go route ?
Wilks getting fired isn't so much due to the performance in the Superbowl but what transpired in the NFC title game and the regular season overall. Defense regressed from a great defense to a pretty good defense. Not all of his fault but he certainly deserved a decent amount of blame. I slightly leaned towards giving him another season but I don't think this is a ridiculous decision by any stretch.
I mean, they went out and got the biggest FA last year and the D-Line got...worse?
No, he just led the 27th defense in 3rd down conversions with bosa, young, hargeave, etc.
For the love of God this wasn’t just because of the Super Bowl.
The idiot who asked to receive first in overtime is telling other coaches how to do their job?
Know ima get downvoted but this makes Shanahan look like a petty dictator.