• last month
Transcript
00:00Hey, Grandy, will you get the the numbers are numbers and numbers are numbers unless they're my numbers and then the numbers count
00:07Cuz numbers are numbers
00:09Numbers I got some numbers
00:12Sometimes something because I'm actually not like you know this about me. I'm not a numbers guy
00:17I would much rather be involved in the emotional conversation of what's going on with what we watch
00:24Certainly some numbers matter some your numbers apparently my numbers matter some are misleading
00:31I always hated that show on ESPN numbers never lie. I'm like they're not they lie all the time right all the time
00:39but this one I
00:41noticed today shout out to Jeff Deeney who covers the Niners and
00:46He tweeted something out in the minute. I saw it. I went oh my goodness I
00:52Think I've got something here listen to this and and you all tell me
00:57What does this do for you when you hear this?
01:00Okay
01:01through the first eight games of
01:05the 49ers season
01:07Brock Purdy attempted
01:1129
01:12passes down the field of 20-plus yards
01:1629 attempts in eight games that is three and a half plus per game 3.6 to be exact
01:233.6 per game
01:2520 plus yards down the field in the last two games
01:30that number shrunk all the way to
01:34Zero
01:37None
01:38Not one none passes since the by no attempts none
01:43And I saw that and I went all right
01:47What's different in the last two games that was not the case in the first eight?
01:53What's different?
01:55Well a couple things one
01:57Christian McCaffrey's back
01:59Captain check down has returned ladies and gentlemen. Let's focus on Christian McCaffrey being back
02:05Because when I saw that that's where my head went which is do we actually have a security blanket problem?
02:13Do we have Brock Purdy and Kyle Shanahan?
02:16Both being so pleased that their number one weapon is back that they are indeed leaning on him too much
02:23Too many of the play calls are centered around Christian
02:27I saw videos this morning all 22 where Juwan Jennings and Debo Samuel
02:33Potentially were open downfield, but Christian McCaffrey was opener
02:38Three yards away from him
02:40Check down now. I got a first down on that particular play, so that's fine
02:44But are they leaning on Christian McCaffrey too much?
02:48To the point where it is taking all of the other aspects of their game away
02:52And the second piece of that is something we experience in sports all the time
02:57like in the Warriors championship year when clay Thompson re-entered the lineup halfway through the year and they immediately took a little dip a
03:04Great player came back
03:05but they took a dip because you had to re-inject a major presence into your lineup and
03:11Sort of re get used to how to play and maybe that's what the Niners are doing here
03:17Look at the couple games leading in to when Christian returned now. They played the Chiefs once
03:23I think that's the best defense in football one of the best teams in football
03:27They only scored 18 points, but the other two games
03:31Before the by with no Christian
03:33There's your 30 purdy. They scored 30 against the Cowboys
03:37They scored 36 against the Seahawks on the road in prime time on short rest
03:43Injuries all over the place offense was moving the ball then now all of the sudden now
03:49They're averaging 20 points a game
03:51They're trying field goals left and right and checking the ball down
03:56because Christians back I
03:59Think in the short term, it's actually not been the best thing for that offense. No, and it's been
04:04Kyle who's decided to play him 96% of the snaps
04:07and so you have a couple of running backs and I'm looking at the
04:11Dallas game when Jordan Mason was hurt and couldn't go in Isaac
04:15Garendo almost had a hundred yards Isaac Garendo a guy who is your
04:19fourth string running back to start the year with Elijah Mitchell at the time and
04:23JP Mason's been great. And so McCaffrey comes back and then last week against Seattle you play him all but two snaps
04:30He played all but two snaps on offense and he's not back to McCaffrey level
04:35He's not doing what he used to do in the past game. He's better
04:38He certainly isn't doing it in the run game and you could tell me that there aren't any holes open
04:43But earlier in the year it felt like there were holes for Mason and for Garendo against Dallas and Seattle's defense is not great
04:50They're okay, it's an okay defense and yet McCaffrey was unable to get even four yards of carry
04:56So, is it a question of the offense the play calling the o-line or the fact that you're giving the ball?
05:0320-some times to a guy who's not really ready. I mean, they're all good questions
05:07I like what I can't tell yet like let's focus on that for a second because I keep hearing people say well
05:12Kristen's not a hundred percent. Do we know that for sure?
05:16Like what is it usually I don't see him look like he's lacking speed
05:21He's Christian McCaffrey. I'd argue he knows how to cut a run back. He knows how to hit a hole
05:27He doesn't look slow to me
05:29Are we sure that he's not a hundred percent or are we just saying that because he hasn't gotten any chunk plays in the first
05:36Two games we're saying that because when you see it
05:39He doesn't have that same
05:40Like jump cut ability that I'm used to seeing where he gets to a spot and he's able to jump out and explode out and make
05:46Something else happen
05:48I see a guy who is getting the ball running the play and doing his darn best and he's getting you know
05:54About four yards of carry 19 for 79
05:57Against Seattle and he had four catches for 27. It's fine
06:0123 touches for 106. That's basically five yards a touch which is
06:07Acceptable question mark
06:09But when you're dealing with a guy who was top five in the MVP and he's widely seen as the best two-way running back in
06:15Football, this is not up to his standard and yet Kyle Shanahan and country in company Bobby Turner the running back coach
06:22they felt like
06:24Giving him the ball giving him every opportunity was the best way to go forward and I I look at it and I've watched the game
06:30Now three times and Jordan Mason had two carries and they both were pretty forceful and pretty successful and pretty aggressive
06:37And yet that's all he got. He was on the field for two
06:40He got the ball twice and that was it game over and that to me is something where you know
06:46I don't know if you feel like you owe it to Christian McCaffrey
06:49I hope not me either, but you know, you got a guy who was leading the league and rushing
06:54He was top two for six or seven weeks. I think he's still top ten in me. He didn't even
06:59Yeah, there's three weeks of football and he was playing great and I'm not using his shoulder injury as an excuse
07:06But I will say that he had fewer cat carries in those games and he had fewer yards
07:11That's just a fact a statistical fact and now he seems to be healthy again
07:16And yet he can't get on the field his 12th now, by the way, he's 12th in the league and rushing. Okay, the 703 yards
07:23Yards per carry. He's probably up there top two yards per carry. He is
07:29Whoops that kind of changed to all the people who have like two carries. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he's he's up there though
07:35He's yeah, he's definitely up there. He's averaging over five yards to carry
07:39Averaging over five yards to carry that's that's pretty good. I'm seeing Saquon Barkley's at 5.8. Derrick Henry's at 6
07:47Jameer Gibbs 6. These are the guys who are Chuba Hubbard 5.1. Jordan Mason 5.1
07:54Lamar Jackson 6.1
07:57Jane Daniels 5.2. Yeah, the new kid with the New York Giants Tyrone Tracy is at 5.1. Yeah, that's elite stuff
08:03That's elite stuff. I think actually what we're talking about both ends up in the same eye of the storm
08:11The bottom line is I think short sample and I get it
08:17He's the reigning offensive player of the year, but it feels like two weeks in you are leaning too much on Christian McCaffrey
08:26That's what it feels like to me
08:28from Jordan Mason has been suddenly relegated to the bench to
08:33The number that I see which is you have completely stopped throwing the ball downfield like entirely, right?
08:39You just stop like not one two full football games and not once
08:45Did you even attempt to throw the ball 20 yards downfield?
08:49That feels like too much focus on Christian McCaffrey
08:53And if I'm a defensive coordinator going against the Niners, that's what I'm gonna focus on and if you focus on one thing
09:01You're probably gonna be able to stop it and and what opens it up for those
09:06Players is if you start getting other people involved you you keep the defense honest
09:11You open up some run lanes for McCaffrey by hooking the ball over the defense's head when they fill up the box
09:17Yep. Yep
09:18So I do think that Kyle kind of addressed it yesterday when he talked about Seattle playing a lot of too high shell
09:24With the the cover to with the two deep safeties when you've got two safeties deep
09:29It's gonna be really hard to throw the ball 20 and 30 yards down the field because that's why they're back there
09:35So I do think that that limits what you can do against a defense like that
09:39But at the same time you can you know scheme up other ways to get throws 10 15 yards down the field
09:46I think you're right mark
09:47It looked like against Seattle was a lot of just you know
09:51Get back there
09:52Pass rush was beating the the pass blocking and it was a lot of just quick check downs and trying to get rid of it
09:578 8 9 5 7 9 5 70 we would always love it when you want to connect with the show Dennis in the city has called
10:03Hey Dennis, thank you for calling
10:07How you doing guys
10:09Yeah
10:10Not much. I yeah, it's great conversation. I think that
10:15You know looking at Carl Shanahan's decisions since McCaffrey's come back just like what you guys were saying
10:22I don't understand why he didn't ease McCaffrey back in Mason was running the ball
10:28Well, we could keep running the ball with Mason and McCaffrey and use McCaffrey and in past situations
10:35But don't use the guy the whole game. He'd like to say he's had no training camp
10:40You know
10:41He's just coming back and she I believe that the reason why McCaffrey was injured to begin with because last year it was McCaffrey left
10:49McCaffrey right McCaffrey up, but the middle never give him a break me and my sons watch the games and just go
10:54Why doesn't he ever run Mason or Mitchell give McCaffrey a break?
10:57And now we'll see he doesn't learn by his mistakes
11:01He did the same thing with mustard when mustard was playing for this team
11:04He brought him back after injuries and he ran him like in the Rams game 17 times in the first half
11:10Mostard got hurt and never came back the rest of the year and that this is what we're facing again
11:15He doesn't learn by his mistakes
11:18Well, Dennis, I want to split the difference on your point. Thank you for the call. It's a good call
11:22I I never want to do this where you blame an injury on the he got hurt because
11:29XYZ last year, that's not fair. You don't know the only one that I've been able to do that and felt good about which was
11:35What Trey Lance?
11:37Ran him into the ground even that
11:40They're playing football man. Like I don't know why someone got hurt
11:44Because somebody hit them in the you-know-what's and now they're hurt like so I don't want to a to b on on that and
11:51I would defend Kyle
11:55Circumstantially on
11:57Christian McCaffrey usage I'd argue that even though maybe for instance Dennis disagrees
12:03I didn't want Christian McCaffrey taking a bunch of breathers last year
12:07He was the offensive player of the year and the Niners were awesome
12:11They're scoring ridiculous points and Christian McCaffrey led the world in touchdowns. Why the hell would you take him off the field?
12:17I'm not worried about two three four years down the road last year. This is different. Thank you now is different than that
12:24No doubt. Yeah, and I look at Jordan Mason's snap counts and it was 54 against Kansas City 11 against Dallas
12:30He got injured three against Tampa two against Seattle. So this guy now has been officially put on ice
12:38Five snaps since the by in two games including the last game where he two snaps to carries 13 yards
12:45Thank you hit the shower
12:46I mean, I think the question we're all heading toward is what would you like to see this 49er offense do differently?
12:52Because we're here now folks. We're here. They got something has got there's no more wiggle room
12:57They've got to change and they have two really difficult games and they're gonna have to be amazeballs
13:03In order to get something good out of this season
13:05So, what would you like to see from this offense that you're not seeing right now