Why red-zone offense will be crucial for Kyle Shanahan, 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers were not good in the red zone last year, which puts pressure on head coach Kyle Shanahan to help deliver here in 2019.

There are a number of reasons why the San Francisco 49ers were in the bottom tier of scoring offenses in 2018.

Injuries, of course, were a big factor. Losing quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to an ACL injury in Week 3 certainly put a damper on head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offensive plans. But despite that loss, the Niners still managed to gain a respectable 5,769 all-purpose yards last season — 16th in the league.

Moving the ball wasn’t the problem. Finding pay dirt in the end zone was. In contrast to the yardage totals, San Francisco managed a mere 342 points on the year, which ranked 21st.

A key reason was success in the red zone, or lack thereof. The 49ers finished with the league’s worst red-zone touchdown efficiency rating a season ago, scoring touchdowns just over 41 percent of their red-zone drives.

It could have been a personnel issues, as Shanahan never truly had a consistent red-zone threat, especially outside of tight end George Kittle. That arguably explains why the Niners made some notable offseason moves to address this, bringing in running back Tevin Coleman and wide receiver Jordan Matthews via free agency. Of Coleman’s 29 career touchdowns, 22 have come within the red zone. Sixteen of Matthews’ 22 touchdowns have come within the red zone, too.

But Matthews might not make the 53-man roster, possibility eliminating that threat out of training camp.

So it’s wise for the 49ers to work on honing their red-zone abilities, which is something they’ve done in camp recently.

Shanahan elaborated one one of the Niners’ red-zone drills (h/t NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco) from last Thursday:

"I thought it was pretty evenly matched, some good, some bad. It’s all scripted plays and stuff. It’s scripted defenses, scripted offenses. So we are trying to get certain looks to go against stuff.We’re on the fifth day right now. That was our first red-zone period, so we’ll continue trying to do that almost every day."

Shanahan went further, appearing on KNBR 680 with Mark Willard and Tom Tolbert (h/t 49ers Webzone):

"We need to run the ball better. We need to beat man-to-man coverage better. We need to make better decisions at quarterback. We need to give him more opportunities, some easy freebies, as you’d say as coaches, where guys are just wide open, and just anyone can make the play.When you get down there, it gets tougher. It gets a lot tougher, and sometimes you’ve got to force your will on people."

One might guess Shanahan has the right idea what needs to get better within this crucial area of the field.

Equally important to personnel, however, can be the right play calling. Last Frebruary, then-KNBR 680 insider Brad Almquist pointed out how Shanahan hasn’t always been the best red-zone play caller. The rankings and numbers are a bit concerning:

"Kyle Shanahan has had trouble finding the right formula. Despite his reputation as one of the NFL’s most talented play-callers, he has historically struggled in the red zone.His two 49ers teams have finished No. 27 and No. 32 in red-zone offense. In 11 years calling NFL offenses, Shanahan’s units have twice finished in the top-10 in red-zone efficiency. His best team, the 2012 Washington Redskins, finished fourth with a 61.8 percent success rate. One year later, they sunk to No. 21.Perhaps it’s a product of preference. Shanahan would rather outsmart you than overpower you. He emphasizes finesse and versatility, which is easily seen with the players he has drafted and signed in free agency throughout the past two years."

The 2019 49ers are easily the most complete roster, especially on offense, Shanahan has had at his disposal since taking the head coaching job back in 2017. And while the personnel groupings aren’t totally perfect, one should be able to point out the lack of weaponry here won’t be as big a problem as it was previously.

Yet it’s still going to be up to Shanahan to rebuff his red-zone past, finding the right combinations and solutions to what has been a problem for San Francisco the past two seasons.

If it doesn’t work, at least the Niners can feel pretty good about kicker Robbie Gould again.