San Francisco 49ers: Chip Kelly’s Offense Stinks, but It’s Not the Head Coach’s Fault

Film Don’t Lie

NFL Films senior editor Greg Cosell (whose opinion we should all value) broke this aspect down in great detail.

Cosell broke down the tape from San Francisco’s 33-21 Week 5 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. His conclusion? Kelly’s play-calling was spot on. Just the execution was far too poor.

Not surprisingly, Cosell points out inadequacies of quarterback Blaine Gabbert. All too often, Gabbert missed open throws and failed to hit his targets on a consistent basis. We don’t need to repeat Cosell’s film work — simply click the above link to see what he said — but we can extrapolate a bit on what’s going on here.

Now the 49ers don’t exactly have receivers who are capable of regularly getting open. No. 1 wideout Torrey Smith is still drawing the majority of opponents’ coverage, which is opening up opportunities for slot receiver Jeremy Kerley.

Chip Kelly’s play-calling on this particular touchdown pass is an example of what should be done. The Niners run a pick with tight end Garrett Celek, which pushes Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu out of the picture and allows Kerley to score an easy touchdown:

OK. So Gabbert can do it, right? The problem is this is a routine throw any QB should make. A high school quarterback is capable of delivering this kind of pass.

Instead, Gabbert’s inconsistency leads to more problems.