The San Francisco 49ers got their first win in Cleveland since 1984 with a solid victory over the Browns on Sunday.
Perhaps more surprising was the fact that head coach Kyle Shanahan opted to receive the ball after winning the coin toss.
Typically, since Shanahan has been head coach, the Niners have always opted to defer if they win the opening coin toss. The thinking has been that San Francisco prefers to get the ball to start the second half, thereby creating an opportunity to score at the end of the first half before coming out to score at the start of the second.
"Lapping an opponent," so it's called.
However, Shanahan shook things up on Sunday by electing to get the ball first on offense.
A big reason for that likely had to do with the weather. The forecast for Sunday's game was not great as rain and snow was expected and winds were well over 20 miles per hour, which is why the Niners likely wanted the ball first. This way, they could attempt to score first and could also elect to go with the wind rather than against the wind.
Shanahan may have also been thinking it would have been smart to try to score early and get points on the board while the elements were relatively tame rather than wait until later when things could get sloppy.
While this decision seems to have been predicated on the weather, Shanahan should think about receiving the ball more often going forward given San Francisco's strengths.
Right now, the 49ers are healthiest and most productive on offense. While that side of the ball was banged up earlier in the season, they now have most of their players back outside of Brandon Aiyuk, who seems unlikely to suit up for the 49ers ever again.
While San Francisco's defense has looked very stout the last two games, allowing nine points to the Carolina Panthers and eight points to the Browns, it's still a banged-up unit and reeling from losing Fred Warner, Nick Bosa, and Mykel Williams for the season.
Plus, the Niners have typically been a great frontrunner team under Shanahan. They often have had trouble coming from behind, and it is easy to see this team getting behind early in games if they defer and let Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts run the ball down their throat in a couple weeks.
Even though Shanahan has typically been stubborn in deferring when winning the coin toss, the Browns game and the Niners' own relative strengths should make Shanahan reconsider this long-held approach.