The San Francisco 49ers did the improbable last Sunday by defeating the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles. A key play in their victory was a trick play dialed up by head coach Kyle Shanahan, which turned the tide of the contest.
Perhaps Shanahan will have a similar trick up his sleeve against the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday.
Apparently Shanahan had not called that exact same play, with a double reverse of two wide receivers ending in a pass to the running back, in six years dating back to an epic regular-season contest against the New Orleans Saints in 2019. San Francisco won that contest 48-46, thanks partly to that play, and it helped them win again.
We have seen that Shanahan is not afraid to call trick plays in his career. He called a trick play in the second Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs in which wide receiver Jauan Jennings threw a pass to running back Christian McCaffrey.Â
The coach certainly has some surprises up his sleeve, and he may need even more surprises if he wants to defeat a Seattle team that limited his offense to just three points two weeks ago.
The Niners could just not seem to get anything going in that game. The one drive where it seemed like things might result in a touchdown ended with an interception after quarterback Brock Purdy put the ball behind McCaffrey, which basically ended the game.
Obviously, the Niners have to do better this time around. It’s going to be tough because they will be on the road against a stout defense without their star tight end George Kittle. They were able to win on the road in Week 1 against the Seahawks without Kittle for much of the game, but that was a different Seattle team that did not have the confidence it currently does as the No. 1 seed in the NFC coming off a bye week.
Some trickery may be in order to make up for what the Niners are missing in Kittle. One hopes wide receiver Ricky Pearsall will be back, but who knows how much can be expected of him even if he does suit up for the contest.
Jennings is a former quarterback who has proven he can throw the ball to great effect. McCaffrey is another player who has shown he can throw the ball when needed. In one of his first games as a 49er back in 2022, he threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Aiyuk.
Like last week, the Niners are going to have to play well and get some luck if they are going to upset another opponent.
Maybe Shanahan can dig deep into his bag of tricks to try and flip the script yet again.