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Eric Williams
NFC West Writer
Two NFL masterminds match wits on Sunday when the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs face off in Super Bowl LVIII.
San Francisco head coach and offensive guru Kyle Shanahan will try to matriculate the football down the field against Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and his stingy unit.
In the history of the two matching up, Shanahan is 5-3 as an offensive coordinator or a head coach calling plays against teams led by Spagnuolo as a head coach or defensive coordinator.
Shanahan’s offenses averaged 23.4 points in those games, compared to an overall average of 28 points per game going back to his initial days as an offensive coordinator for the Houston Texans in 2008. Shanahan is the only coach in the Super Bowl era with a team averaging at least 25 points per game who has not won a championship (minimum 100 games).
Shanahan said it’s important not to worry about what Kansas City head coach Andy Reid, another offensive guru, is doing on his side of the ball.
“If you try to square up against a creative playcaller, you’re going to mess it up for your whole team,” Shanahan said during Super Bowl Opening Night. “It’s about studying what they do and trying to give your players the best look possible.
“If you’re trying to be creative just to be creative, it’s going to end up looking pretty dumb.”
Shanahan’s 49ers have lost their past two games against the Chiefs, a 44-23 regular-season loss last season and a 31-20 defeat in Super Bowl LIV. The latter no doubt hurt much more, especially since the Niners had a 20-10 lead headed into the fourth quarter.
Formerly an offensive juggernaut with two-time MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs have surprisingly been led by their defense this year. And in the postseason, they’re allowing just 13.7 points per game — the fewest allowed by any team during a three-game postseason run in the past decade. The last team to allow fewer…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/super-bowl-lviii-scheme-showdown-kyle-shanahan-vs-steve-spagnuolo
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Publish date : 2024-02-08 18:54:44
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