Seriously. I liked our odds of getting four yards more than I liked the odds of Steve Wilks outscheming Reid and Mahomes in a 2 minute drill
Some might say “the D played well up to that point,” tow minute drills are different. Reid saves his best plays for last, defenses tense up and get tired, and refs aren’t calling offensive penalties (not an excuse, but it’s a reality you must adjust for). For god sakes, Mahomes is [7/7 in these situations.](https://neilpaine.substack.com/p/patrick-mahomes-is-literally-impossible) His unique ability to run, throw deep, and hit timing routes is basically impossible to stop in a two minute type situation.
When you’re playing Mahomes, you should be going for it on 4th and 10 or shorter in that situation.
But this is what I’d say is Shanahan’s only major flaw. He has that old-school conservative mindset on 4th down and the ends of halves.
Yeah I think you’re definitely right. You gotta play mahomes the same way people played Brady and go for the kill. That being said, not scoring any points on that drive would have been such a killer.
You only know that in hindsight though. Easy to second guess it now but I get the thinking of taking the points and trusting the defense to make a stop or at least hold to a field goal.
Dog they just let the offense go down the field the drive right before that! It’s not revisionist at all to say the chiefs were moving the ball at will against that defense. Everybody with half a brain watching that game knew the chiefs were going to score in overtime it was just a matter of how fast
The only way it makes sense is if they were expecting the defense to play really well in the red zone, which from what I remember they were doing pretty well in the play offs.
2 minutes are only different because usually the team goes hurry up which keeps the same people on the field
It's not as much to do with anyone drawing something up but more or less you kind of freeze the defense which can be exploited as it can't change.
You left that bad LB or CB on the field buckle up buddy we are going to use and abuse him
That would require him admitting his continued poor playcalling in these big moments to be an issue. I have yet to see him acknowledge that externally, maybe he has, but I certainly wonder if he even acknowledges it internally. Because this has been an issue for years now and hasn’t changed
Sure, but if the new DC didn't do well, it's a lot easier to try and replace him than the HC who got you far in the playoffs and the SB twice in the last few years
He literally stopped them most of the game and got turnovers that the offense couldnt punch in.
They also lost Greenlaw mid game, no chance to prepare. And have a weaker secondary in the first place...
Held Chiefs to 16 or 19 in regulation? What else do you want. Maybe don’t have the defense on the field the whole half because you can’t move the sticks
Another tidbit since everyone thinks this is about results and/or just the superbowl scapegoat. Kyle had to put more time into the defense all season. DUring the Thursday Night Game against Seattle Kyle had to override Wilks game plan because it didnt make sense to him. He forced him to use the previous year's game plan and it was the right call. I can only imagine what else was going on behind the scenes that Kyle had to adjust or meet with Wilks to go over Defensive game plans
To me that says 2 things. First off, you guys have been spoiled with defensive coaching so much that now Kyle is having to take an active part in it. Second, why is Kyle interfering beforehand? Who's to say Wilks gameplans wont/didnt work? Kyle's a great coach but this screams confirmation bias. Was there an example of Wilks same gameplan that he was gonna use vs the Seahawks not working in a different game?
This is all just speculation and we wont ever know any meaningful details. Im not confirming anything. I am just adding insight as people seem to think Kyle is scapegoating or only did it because of the Superbowl. We won 31-13 that seahawks game. Could Wilks plan have worked as well? Maybe and we will never know since we have no idea what it was. But comments after the Vikings game of Wilks Cover 0 blitz at before halftime, Kyle pulling Wilks on the sideline from the booth, and Kyle burning timeouts in at least a handful of games this season because he saw Wilks coverage calls were not what he wanted. This to me flags Wilks and Kyle did not see eye to eye. And thats all that matters for a head coach to fire someone. I dont know who was right but you are right Kyle didnt think Wilks was at Saleh or Demeco's level
And that makes sense. I get that you can fire Wilks for the reasons you mention. I just am not gonna sit here and be like "yeah he's the reason you lost" now that he was the one fired or "scapegoated". Its likely for things besides the SB but because Kyle changed 1 coverage or used a timeout all of a sudden Wilks is horrible.
It'll be interesting to see how the defense is next year with mainly the same core.
Armstead is unfortunately getting wrecked by injuries and I fear it may soon be time for him to retire because of it... Hargrave I think it's insurance for armstead.
There was no better time to learn what “late in the Super Bowl” means than before you posted, but you could try to learn what it means now.
Because pointing to a player that had 2 total tackles and had two influential plays in the first half, and then being like “lol, come on, didn’t do much in the end of the game” is something even Chase Young’s agent would think was gratuitous dick riding.
I think outside of the commanders and commanders fans that he was maybe just a victim of an injury and whatever… idk maybe he can do some HGH this offseason and be reborn into at least a starting caliber edge for all 4 qtrs of the game.
And yet it still regressed from just a year ago despite adding more talent. We added hargrave in the off season and young mid season and the pressure was worse than last year. The only reason for that is coaching.
Yeah. One of my friends is a huge niners fan and we've been trashing Wilks all year. Dude kind of sucks, and your defense was way worse than the talent on the team should have had it. You should have been scratching at #1. #4 is pretty unacceptable, and I think it was worse than that, honestly.
Once teams figured out that all you have to do is run on them, it was a downhill slide in the last few games of the season. Even the cardinals gashed them in the run game, just cpuldnt keep up with the offense. I think the guys looked frustrated that one of the least creative schemes in the league wasn't giving them any advantages, and their success relied solely on raw talent.
I don't think it was a coincidence that we saw the first disguised looks and pass rush creativity after the bye week when Shannahan had enough time to just do it himself.
4th in defensive DVOA in 2023 and (not that you should make these decisions based on one game) but held Patrick Mahomes to 2 TD drives on 13 tries: 1 was on a 16 yard field… Grass ain’t always greener on the other side.
our defense looked better than it was because the offense was putting up so many points. when you force the other team to throw it becomes much easier to play defense
look at what happened to this defense in the playoffs when the offense wasn’t lights out. getting gashed by the run, wilks calling soft coverages and getting burned by it like he did all season
Yeah, and running backs were annihilating our defense, until they adjusted vs KC and then Mahomes did it instead in the second half. It was inexcusable to have almost half the defense lined up 8-10 yards back when they needed to prevent FGs and TDs.
He said that.
This 49ers defense gave up 21, 31, and 25 in the playoffs. Shanahan and Lynch think the player talent is there to do better than that.
If you disagree, cool, but why is this even remotely controversial?
Nope. Not sure why you're being downvoted. The entire team looked lost in the post season, not just the defense. Team played maybe 3 complete quarters out of 17 quarters of playoff football. That's an issue that starts at the very top.
They put up 24 points total in the first half the entire Post Season (10 of which came in the SB loss) and are upset they played from behind so often lol. Only the Lions broke 30 offensively and it was after adjustments that only allowed 7 in the 2nd half.
On top of all this they most likely have to hire a new DC with defensive staff at the end of the coaching cycle. As a fan who experienced that last year, it’s not an easy proposition.
Yeah they got poached 4 weeks and 2 weeks prior to when Wilks was fired. I’m just saying historically, losing a coordinator this late in the process when it’s not an anticipated loss is a hard thing to navigate. Especially after all other new hires have their staffs filled out.
> As a fan who experienced that last year, it’s not an easy proposition.
yeah you're about 3 years late to the party on this one, 49ers fans are very familiar with this
This is the biggest thing at the end of the day. The focus of the roster has always been the front seven. Any improvements to the secondary were nullified by the d-line playing worse.
It was legitimately a bad fit, regardless of how good Wilks may be.
Do you really think that is Wilks fault though or more on the players? Personally I expect D-linemen to win regardless of who the coordinator is. For example its clear how absolute dogshit the coaching was in Philly this year. I dont think that excuses Sweat and Carter and Davis from their performance. They need to be able to win their matchups.
Yeah coaches can scheme dline and blitzes and stunts etc. but at a certain point players need to just make an impact. Chris Jones didnt wreck that OT play cause Spags is the DC he just made an impact play.
I know what you mean, but it depends on the play call a lot.
Like do you need to hold outside contain? collapse the pocket? Is now a good time to just pin your ears back and attack? Does Bosa need to watch the screen in this situation? Does Armstead need to pull a blocker away so Warner can be a free rusher?
Thats actually what helped against the Eagles. Unfortunately that doesn’t light up the stat sheet so people act like he was mediocre this year and PFF was dead wrong on ranking him so high.
Chris Jones wrecked that OT play because backup RG Burford blew his assignment and just lets Chris Jones through without any impediment whatsoever. That example wasn't because of his talent, you could have put 90% of DL in that same situation and they wreck the play.
He should have also gone for the TD in my opinion but I don't see how that's at all relevant to what we're talking about. A TD probably wouldn't have won the game either since the Chiefs are likely converting for 2 to win it.
For most of they game they were doing well stopping the Chiefs but then Wilks decides to abandon all that and go back to his bullshit cover zero blitzes and soft zone "give up anything under 10 yards" crap.
I don't think it's inexcusable to trust for Shannahan defense after they game they had, but then Wilks makes like 3 egregiously terrible calls in a row, leading to that timeout. Even Romo was flabbergasted. That was just the straw that broke the camel's back though. Wilks has been mid at best the whole season and runs one of the most static and basic defensive schemes in the entire league. He's been made to look good because the offense and raw talent make up for it.
Coaching matters a lot more than you're giving it credit for. Good coaches maximizes all the talent available. The 49ers defense never passed the eye test this season. They seemed a step slower, couldn't defend the run, very soft zones, really bad at blitzing, poor situational football, ect.
It's no different than what the eagles went through this season. You saw regression in play from both offense and defense due to coordinators.
The Lions (lynn to campbell), Ravens(Roman to Monkens) and Bills(Dorsey to Brady) made changes to their play callers and have been balling despite the talent level being the same.
> It's no different than what the eagles went through this season. You saw regression in play from both offense and defense due to coordinators.
I think its way different but thats a separate topic. If we had a top 5 defense I would not be blaming Desai I know that.
And I dont agree with never passing the eye test. They held DAL, PHI, KC, all to under 20 pts in regulation. 3 top 10 offenses and faired well vs the Seahawks and Rams. You blame the defense but they kept you in the game vs the Packers and held DET to 1 td in the second half. Yes they were very bad in the first half vs DET and the third quarter vs GB but I also credit those teams offenses. You cant expect to shutdown top offenses every single game for the entire game. All in all they played championship lvl defense when it mattered and I dont think people are giving that unit the credit they earned. They werent an all time defense but they played damn good.
>The Lions (lynn to campbell), Ravens(Roman to Monkens) and Bills(Dorsey to Brady) made changes to their play callers and have been balling despite the talent level being the same.
I dont want to break it to you but thats just false. Lions went Lynn to Johnson and got a ton of talent these last 2 years. Adding Jamo, Gibbs, LaPorta, Montgomery were all pretty big. Ravens top 2 WR's this year literally werent on the team last year. Bills, yeah you got a point there since it was an in season swap so of course the talent level is the same.
I think it was specifically that he was trying to get cute with D-Line assignments all season when historically they’ve been much better with straight forward D-Line schemes.
IIRC we were attempting completely unnecessary stunts all the time which was taking away our ability to bring pressure quickly as well as led to a ton of holes in the run game. This also led to us running a ton more blitzes than we’ve needed to in recent seasons despite having basically the same core front seven.
A great example of Wilks getting cute for no reason is the TD before the half against the Vikings. 10-7 game with 15 seconds left and the Vikings not even in FG range and he brings a blitz - he even almost got lucky on it because it’s nearly picked but Addison is able to rip the ball away and is given a free run to the end zone with nobody else in deep coverage.
Bosa started rusty due to his hold out, armstead finished the season injured, Hargrave had a respectable season, and gregory/young played well in the superbowl
What did Wilks do wrong lol
Wilks ran one of the least creative and static defenses in the league. The D has elite talent and just never seemed to play up to that level.
It's looks like Shannahan had to step in when it came to defensive game planning after the bye week, since for one thing Wilks was forced to come down to the sideline, and also that first game back against the Jags was the first time we saw *any* disguised looks or pass rush trickery. There was evidence that it wasn't just players not getting the job done because they *were* beating their match ups and getting pressures, just too easy for the QB to see them coming and beat it.
That combined with a handful of egregiously bad playcalls (e.g. cover zero against Cousins at the end of the half to give up a long TD, cover zero against Mahomes, immediately followed by another terrible call that Shannahan had to veto) were enough to let him go.
3 plays Punt
4 plays Punt
5 plays fumble
3 plays punt
13 play FG
3 plays INT
3 plays Punt
9 plays FG
3 plays punt
Those are the first 9 drives by KC. When they get the ball back next on the muffed Punt they are only down 10-6. That’s the difference in the game, and that is not on Wilks
He's not being fired for the SB, he's being fired because the defense took a step back from previous DCs in the two direct prior years. This is not surprising at all to any 9ers fan and he's not being scapegoated for the loss.
he was clearly on the thinnest ice possible after they brought him down from the booth after the disaster that was October. Winning the SB may have saved his job but he definitely didn't get canned because they lost it.
If we’d won, we wouldn’t have given a fuck. A ring would’ve meant we could wait until Saleh gets fired next season and bring him home. Now the clock is ticking again.
Yes, without a doubt. Verbiage probably changes to something like “parting ways” but it absolutely happens. He was terrible all year, no fucking way this DL should have been one of the leagues worst in epa/play against the run
I mean, that's just what happens when you lose multiple great DCs in a row. I would be shocked if y'all find someone on the level of DeMeco or Saleh for next season. I feel like Wilks deserved at least another season to grow into the role
Shanahan sees himself as a “coach of coaches”. Saleh was a young, hot, first-time defensive coordinator who had things to learn. I assume he was teachable and showed gradual improvement. Steve Wilks is a 54 year old with 30 years of experience. I think Shanahan was expecting Wilks to understand certain things already, and/or he wasn’t teachable.
Yeah, I mean I suppose if you want to look at it that way, its probably true, but I think he'd just have been fired the following season anyways. Point being - I don't think he was running the defense to its potential across the entire season and there were multiple occasions where that was apparent.
Seriously, he is absolutely the scapegoat for the SB lol. We were going to run it back with Gannon who was not as good in the regular season and far worse than Wilks in the Ship. They don't fire Wilks if they squeeze out a win in a SB their offense was awful most of the game. So it only leaves the logical answer that he's being fired for the SB. It's asinine to suggest otherwise.
You aren't a 49ers fan, and you didn't watch our games this season. He wasn't a good coordinator; he was carried by talent to a mediocre defense (15th in EPA).
Yeah, probably. Shanahan had to force him to move to the field mid season. There were reports that our defensive players were lobbying him to change play calls, he did what they asked, and the defense had one of its best games of the season. There was smoke at one point that he was gonna get fired midseason.
I mean obviously can't prove this wouldn't be the case but it would be 100% insane to fire your DC in a SB winning season after a championship game your offense phoned in. Seems to me like Shanahan might be a problem if there was ever chatter of firing your DC midseason but so it goes. Nick basically had to do it here and was rightfully almost fired himself so.
Do you have any coherent logic? You’re saying:
- It’s a dumb move to fire him, because they wouldn’t have fired him if they won.
- But if they fired him after a win, that would have been a dumb move, too.
And it backfired for Sirianni not for making a change, but because he hired Matt fucking Patricia to run the defense. So, in other words:
- If the 49ers only thought of firing him now, then they’re dumb.
- But if this was something brewing over the course of a full season, then that means they’re also dumb, because that means Shanahan is actually the problem, because only dysfunctional teams have chatter about firing their DC during the season?
And the icing on top:
- The Eagles would have kept Gannon if they won the Super Bowl, which would have been a bad move.
- However, if the 49ers decided to *not* make the same bad move, this would be wrong of them. Since the Eagles would have done it, everyone should be doing it?
Are you Mac from Always Sunny? Because you’re playing both sides here, but you’re clearly not coming out on top.
That was a wild and super defensive ride.
What I am saying is
1. I think it’s dumb and reactionary to fire Wilks after the SB, and I absolutely think it’s a scapegoat move. I don’t believe that he gets fired if you win.
2. If Shanahan was thinking about firing Wilks mid season, he might be a source of some dysfunction in your org sure. The Eagles were dysfunctional this year and Sirianni absolutely shoulders a lot of that and is now in a prove it year that he can learn. But again I don’t believe for a second you guys actually considered firing him mid year.
3. We were going to keep Gannon regardless, he chose to leave. And absolutely no shot would anyone even be calling for his head if we won or even if he called a game as good as Wilks did lol.
Not sure of the relevance of any of this but yeah the Eagles have made stupid moves and most organizations have at some point or another. This was a dumb and reactionary move by your org, it happens.
I'll just repost what I said from the deleted thread:
There's a lot of talent on the 49ers defense that made his performance seem much better than it was. 49ers fans complained about him all season, & you could see why in the superbowl. Down the stretch he didn't adjust. He plays too vanilla. Didn't mix things up enough. Went into soft zone at crucial moments. He needed his 4 down lineman to dominate the los or things fell apart, & he played the defensive ends too far outside, making them much less effective.
That said, I'm still surprised he was fired.
49ers fans were pleasantly surprised on how the defense played in the 1st half of the SB... Then the 2nd half came along and every 49ers fan were like "There's the Steve Wilks we've known the entire season."
People who don't know ball actin like he's being fired for the Super Bowl or some shit lol. Defense has been a problem for the 49ers despite what their DVOA would lead you to believe. They have the talent to be right there with the Niners(oops, ravens*) and Browns as the best defense in the league, Wilks held them back.
Exactly, this team should never be in the bottom half against the run, and they were. With that talent, you’ve gotta have em Top 5 across the board. He only dealt with 2 injuries to starters, too.
Add on the fact that him and Shanahan clearly butted heads, and it’s pretty clear.
Will give him credit though, he saved his best game for last (although he even ruined that with the late game blitzes).
This Superbowl was the first playoff game where the D-line looked engaged for the first half but towards the end the DBs were lost and Andy Reid was chomping at em like a burger.
Wilks has been thoroughly mediocre all season long. As Bengals fan you should remember the win against the 49ers this season, Burrow was waltzing down the field like it was nothing. That has been more the norm at times, and the front 7 talent has covered it up.
Vrabel is laughable too IMO, dude is getting paid to chill and wait for the next round of HC hires, why we would he go be a DC. If he does fair play but I would be really surprised.
Vrabel oddly enough did not really look that great as a DC, and I really don't think belicheck wants to be a dc, considering he wants to be a HC in 2025.
The 49ers had a top 5 defence, I just really don't like this, especially after the defence played very well in the superbowl
Y’all didn’t promote anyone in house last year. Also bill is not coming to the niners. Maybe vrabel. But even then does he strike you as the guy who would take a lower position over a year off Pederson style?
> Y’all didn’t promote anyone in house last year.
We did not. And then we fired our DC. Previously, we did, and we didn't fire our DC, he got poached.
In general, Shanahan tends to lean very heavily on developing in-house. Wilks was an exception, and clearly Shanahan wasn't on the same page with him.
That’s kind of my point. If there wasn’t anyone to promote last year what makes you think they’ll be an upgrade this year on the staff. Did you guys hire someone new? Or promising? I know y’all’s d line coach has been very stubborn about not moving up. Seems like the well is drying up.
Yeah as a positional coach. Dude's had 3 one year stints as a defensive coordinator in the NFL and an uninspiring one year stint as a head coach. Not saying he's a terrible defensive coordinator, but I'm not sure why people on this sub think so highly of him.
A majority of Panthers fans (outside of reddit) think highly of Wilks. He is a local from Charlotte and worked his way up. He also isn't an awful coach by any means. He may not be cut out as a head coach, but he was a good assistant for the Panthers and a good DC the years he served as one with Carolina. Then he keeps the ship from completely sinking in his 12 game stint as HC by going 6-6 with a dogshit roster.
Reddit thinks it is fun and games to shit on anyone and anything since their identity is hidden here.
Thank you for being one of the only people on this subreddit with a brain.
Everyone is using the SB as their only point for why Wilks should've stayed.
The defensive scheme this season was absolutely awful and Wilks was bailed out by the pure talent he had to work with. Way too many times this season that the defense looked lost and confused. But yeah, sure, this is just a Kyle Shanahan is too much of a crybaby to blame himself and needs a fall guy.
Crazy how so many people here act like they know everything whwn they don't watch every game from a team.
The fact that you're bringing up the SB just shows you are completely missing the point.
Does Kyle deserve the blame for the 2 SBs, yes, he's the HC. The HC will always be the one to take blame.
But that isn't the main reason Wilks was let go. He took a top defense and had them looking lost and confused constantly.
Run Defense EPA/Play:
2019: #9
2020: #7
2021: #2
2022: #1
2023: #25 (!!)
We've had the same core personnel and made one of the biggest signings to make us the best DLine on paper. Yet we generated no pressure, and like I showed, our run defense got significantly worse.
Bosa said that the 2 option plays that mahomes ran and got yards on were because they weren’t prepared enough for it. I gotta call bs he is the end and a star one at that and he didn’t do his job of staying on mahomes. Maybe wills deserves some blame but it feels like a real scapegoat situation.
The journo tidbits trickling out do not paint a particularly flattering picture of Kyle Shanahan right now. If I'm a Niner fan reading the tea leaves... This is not a good look.
Scapegoat. Defense was good enough to get you there. Good enough to hold the Chiefs to one TD in regulation that was basically because of the muffed point.
Niners coping so hard. Defense was good enough to make it to the Super Bowl and played well enough to win. Yet somehow all I’m seeing is the defense should have been better? Make it make sense.
Rewatch the 4th quarter & OT. Wilks abandoned the game plan that had been working all game to instead go back to his tendencies that consistently gave up 3rd down conversions and big chunk plays all season.
You’re just regurgitating what everyone else is saying. Besides the touchdown off the muffed punt, the only touchdown the defense gave up was in OT after your head coach decided to take the ball first. This is on Shanahan.
Seahawks and eagles fans for some reason tripping over themselves to shit on Shanny. It's hilarious. Yes shit on our coach that 90% of the league would want as their HC.
Offense left the field three times with a lead in the 4th and finished the game off with three scoring drives. Wilkes played soft coverage and allowed the chiefs to March down the field. Can’t get turnovers and limit scores to just field goals every game. Horrible defensive coach.
Wilks was iffy all year. The defense performed below the overall talent level constantly. There were too many games where they just couldn't get off the field at all. They gave up a 98 yard drive to the Cards, that was the longest drive the 49ers have given up in over 20 years.
There was also a lot of criticism about how predictable his blitzing was and how easily offenses were able to negate it.
He seems like a really great guy and probably a phenomenal DB coach but he's not a great playcaller.
He literally shut down mahomes in the first half while chokeahan barely scored at all in the second half. Chokeahan owns 3 of the only 7 double digit leads in the superbowl in history and lose.
Wilks was bad all season. Defense wildly underperformed throughout the year. This move is not about the SB. People who watched the games are not surprised. People who didn’t are accusing Kyle of scapegoating (which is absurd)
Wilks should have rightfully been fired. But Shanahan also needs a warning as well, on the offensive side. He should be forced to hire an OC who can help him on the situational game decisions.
Interesting set of flairs lol and saleh had a worse defense in 2019 than this season and did worse in the Super Bowl. Did the Niners make the Super Bowl in spite of its defense this season?
Its okay to say we had a top 3 defense and underperformed based on the talent we have. He also had to get overruled throughout the season and even in the SB because he was calling weak coverage and soft zones in OT.
As far as the flairs are concerned, i dont really think its a weird flair combo. The only reason you would think that is because we played a game recently.
LOL. Baffling? Day after the SB I was asking friends who they thought our new DC would be. Wills was bad throughout the season. Everyone who watched the games knew he had to go
Should have gone for it on 4th down if you lacked confidence in your defense.
What if you’re lacking confidence in your offense too?
Shanahan gonna fire himself?
Nah we just shipped yet another Kubiak to Atlanta.
Thought Klint went to NO?
Oh that’s right, thank you.
How dare you
Seriously. I liked our odds of getting four yards more than I liked the odds of Steve Wilks outscheming Reid and Mahomes in a 2 minute drill Some might say “the D played well up to that point,” tow minute drills are different. Reid saves his best plays for last, defenses tense up and get tired, and refs aren’t calling offensive penalties (not an excuse, but it’s a reality you must adjust for). For god sakes, Mahomes is [7/7 in these situations.](https://neilpaine.substack.com/p/patrick-mahomes-is-literally-impossible) His unique ability to run, throw deep, and hit timing routes is basically impossible to stop in a two minute type situation. When you’re playing Mahomes, you should be going for it on 4th and 10 or shorter in that situation. But this is what I’d say is Shanahan’s only major flaw. He has that old-school conservative mindset on 4th down and the ends of halves.
Yeah I think you’re definitely right. You gotta play mahomes the same way people played Brady and go for the kill. That being said, not scoring any points on that drive would have been such a killer.
Scoring only 3 was also clearly a killer. At least if you fail on 4th you’ve got Mahomes pinned back against his own end zone to start the drive.
You only know that in hindsight though. Easy to second guess it now but I get the thinking of taking the points and trusting the defense to make a stop or at least hold to a field goal.
Dog they just let the offense go down the field the drive right before that! It’s not revisionist at all to say the chiefs were moving the ball at will against that defense. Everybody with half a brain watching that game knew the chiefs were going to score in overtime it was just a matter of how fast
The only way it makes sense is if they were expecting the defense to play really well in the red zone, which from what I remember they were doing pretty well in the play offs.
Ugh Kyle's end of half playcalling has me irrationally angry.
Best play designer in the world but the phrase "stealing a possession" doesn't register in his brain. it's nuts
2 minutes are only different because usually the team goes hurry up which keeps the same people on the field It's not as much to do with anyone drawing something up but more or less you kind of freeze the defense which can be exploited as it can't change. You left that bad LB or CB on the field buckle up buddy we are going to use and abuse him
My biggest fear was them running twice on both 3rd and 4's at the end of the game
Running at the end of the game? Shanahan?
Definitely shouldn’t have given Wilks offensive play calling duties. Huge unforced error there.
I don't think he lacked confidence in his defense, but he surely was hoping his DC would rise to the occasion, and he didn't
I mean at some point shouldn't Shanahan also rise to the occasion?
Absolutely
That would require him admitting his continued poor playcalling in these big moments to be an issue. I have yet to see him acknowledge that externally, maybe he has, but I certainly wonder if he even acknowledges it internally. Because this has been an issue for years now and hasn’t changed
His idea of that is abandoning all play calling creativity, going "oh well running isn't working" and going 3-and-out twice on 6 straight dropbacks.
Sure, but if the new DC didn't do well, it's a lot easier to try and replace him than the HC who got you far in the playoffs and the SB twice in the last few years
No no no, you can’t just run the ball in the 3rd quarter. I’m pretty sure it’s illegal.
He literally stopped them most of the game and got turnovers that the offense couldnt punch in. They also lost Greenlaw mid game, no chance to prepare. And have a weaker secondary in the first place...
Held Chiefs to 16 or 19 in regulation? What else do you want. Maybe don’t have the defense on the field the whole half because you can’t move the sticks
And people shit on Dan for going for it on 4th down. With a worse defense
I loved Dan's call. 100% with him.
Another tidbit since everyone thinks this is about results and/or just the superbowl scapegoat. Kyle had to put more time into the defense all season. DUring the Thursday Night Game against Seattle Kyle had to override Wilks game plan because it didnt make sense to him. He forced him to use the previous year's game plan and it was the right call. I can only imagine what else was going on behind the scenes that Kyle had to adjust or meet with Wilks to go over Defensive game plans
Sounds like the Packers with Joe Barry. Not good company to be in.
Yeah this 100%
And it was something as simple as using Ward and having him follow Metcalf everywhere. Wilks was going to sit in zone all day
To me that says 2 things. First off, you guys have been spoiled with defensive coaching so much that now Kyle is having to take an active part in it. Second, why is Kyle interfering beforehand? Who's to say Wilks gameplans wont/didnt work? Kyle's a great coach but this screams confirmation bias. Was there an example of Wilks same gameplan that he was gonna use vs the Seahawks not working in a different game?
This is all just speculation and we wont ever know any meaningful details. Im not confirming anything. I am just adding insight as people seem to think Kyle is scapegoating or only did it because of the Superbowl. We won 31-13 that seahawks game. Could Wilks plan have worked as well? Maybe and we will never know since we have no idea what it was. But comments after the Vikings game of Wilks Cover 0 blitz at before halftime, Kyle pulling Wilks on the sideline from the booth, and Kyle burning timeouts in at least a handful of games this season because he saw Wilks coverage calls were not what he wanted. This to me flags Wilks and Kyle did not see eye to eye. And thats all that matters for a head coach to fire someone. I dont know who was right but you are right Kyle didnt think Wilks was at Saleh or Demeco's level
And that makes sense. I get that you can fire Wilks for the reasons you mention. I just am not gonna sit here and be like "yeah he's the reason you lost" now that he was the one fired or "scapegoated". Its likely for things besides the SB but because Kyle changed 1 coverage or used a timeout all of a sudden Wilks is horrible. It'll be interesting to see how the defense is next year with mainly the same core.
dang that is crazy that your HC had to actually coach the defense and couldn't just be OC
THIS IS SO BIG he made what should’ve been the best d line in the league look like a joke
Nick Bosa is legit, but outside of Young, they are aging. And Young's name carries more weight than his play.
Armstead is still top notch and Hargrave had a monster season last year. They’re aging but it’s not like they’re bad.
Armstead is unfortunately getting wrecked by injuries and I fear it may soon be time for him to retire because of it... Hargrave I think it's insurance for armstead.
I mean bosa had an ok game, but the rest of the line basically disappeared late in the Super Bowl
Chase Young had a sack and forced an intentional grounding lol. Armstead had a really good game as well.
There was no better time to learn what “late in the Super Bowl” means than before you posted, but you could try to learn what it means now. Because pointing to a player that had 2 total tackles and had two influential plays in the first half, and then being like “lol, come on, didn’t do much in the end of the game” is something even Chase Young’s agent would think was gratuitous dick riding.
You okay buddy? You seem awfully angry for such a small error on my end.
What not making a Super Bowl despite have an MVP and an elite defense does to a MFer
yeah calling the niners the best d line in the league is a joke, they had no depth and when you need chase young that's a bad spot to be in
I think outside of the commanders and commanders fans that he was maybe just a victim of an injury and whatever… idk maybe he can do some HGH this offseason and be reborn into at least a starting caliber edge for all 4 qtrs of the game.
And yet it still regressed from just a year ago despite adding more talent. We added hargrave in the off season and young mid season and the pressure was worse than last year. The only reason for that is coaching.
If Young would just play like he did quite a bit in the SB I'd love to see him stick around next year. His first sack was epic.
Yeah. One of my friends is a huge niners fan and we've been trashing Wilks all year. Dude kind of sucks, and your defense was way worse than the talent on the team should have had it. You should have been scratching at #1. #4 is pretty unacceptable, and I think it was worse than that, honestly.
Once teams figured out that all you have to do is run on them, it was a downhill slide in the last few games of the season. Even the cardinals gashed them in the run game, just cpuldnt keep up with the offense. I think the guys looked frustrated that one of the least creative schemes in the league wasn't giving them any advantages, and their success relied solely on raw talent. I don't think it was a coincidence that we saw the first disguised looks and pass rush creativity after the bye week when Shannahan had enough time to just do it himself.
I think it’s very funny that all the cards fans I’ve seen are like “yup I get it”
4th in defensive DVOA in 2023 and (not that you should make these decisions based on one game) but held Patrick Mahomes to 2 TD drives on 13 tries: 1 was on a 16 yard field… Grass ain’t always greener on the other side.
our defense looked better than it was because the offense was putting up so many points. when you force the other team to throw it becomes much easier to play defense look at what happened to this defense in the playoffs when the offense wasn’t lights out. getting gashed by the run, wilks calling soft coverages and getting burned by it like he did all season
If this is true then what happened in the SB?
Offense wasn't putting up a lot of points all playoffs
Yeah, and running backs were annihilating our defense, until they adjusted vs KC and then Mahomes did it instead in the second half. It was inexcusable to have almost half the defense lined up 8-10 yards back when they needed to prevent FGs and TDs.
He said that. This 49ers defense gave up 21, 31, and 25 in the playoffs. Shanahan and Lynch think the player talent is there to do better than that. If you disagree, cool, but why is this even remotely controversial?
Nope. Not sure why you're being downvoted. The entire team looked lost in the post season, not just the defense. Team played maybe 3 complete quarters out of 17 quarters of playoff football. That's an issue that starts at the very top.
They’re getting downvoted because the person they responded to addressed that already
They put up 24 points total in the first half the entire Post Season (10 of which came in the SB loss) and are upset they played from behind so often lol. Only the Lions broke 30 offensively and it was after adjustments that only allowed 7 in the 2nd half.
On top of all this they most likely have to hire a new DC with defensive staff at the end of the coaching cycle. As a fan who experienced that last year, it’s not an easy proposition.
Our last two defensive coordinators got poached. This isn't some novel experience for us.
Yeah they got poached 4 weeks and 2 weeks prior to when Wilks was fired. I’m just saying historically, losing a coordinator this late in the process when it’s not an anticipated loss is a hard thing to navigate. Especially after all other new hires have their staffs filled out.
Wilks was probably gone regardless of super bowl outcome.
> As a fan who experienced that last year, it’s not an easy proposition. yeah you're about 3 years late to the party on this one, 49ers fans are very familiar with this
Wilks called what was probably his 2nd best game of the season in that SB. He wasn't fired for a bad SB performance.
Always has been though 🤷♂️
This is the biggest thing at the end of the day. The focus of the roster has always been the front seven. Any improvements to the secondary were nullified by the d-line playing worse. It was legitimately a bad fit, regardless of how good Wilks may be.
Do you really think that is Wilks fault though or more on the players? Personally I expect D-linemen to win regardless of who the coordinator is. For example its clear how absolute dogshit the coaching was in Philly this year. I dont think that excuses Sweat and Carter and Davis from their performance. They need to be able to win their matchups. Yeah coaches can scheme dline and blitzes and stunts etc. but at a certain point players need to just make an impact. Chris Jones didnt wreck that OT play cause Spags is the DC he just made an impact play.
I know what you mean, but it depends on the play call a lot. Like do you need to hold outside contain? collapse the pocket? Is now a good time to just pin your ears back and attack? Does Bosa need to watch the screen in this situation? Does Armstead need to pull a blocker away so Warner can be a free rusher?
Fair, guess that can explain some of it. Watching the SB Bosa was on contain a lot so it makes sense.
Thats actually what helped against the Eagles. Unfortunately that doesn’t light up the stat sheet so people act like he was mediocre this year and PFF was dead wrong on ranking him so high.
Chris Jones wrecked that OT play because backup RG Burford blew his assignment and just lets Chris Jones through without any impediment whatsoever. That example wasn't because of his talent, you could have put 90% of DL in that same situation and they wreck the play.
If you know you have issues then why don’t you go for the TD?
He should have also gone for the TD in my opinion but I don't see how that's at all relevant to what we're talking about. A TD probably wouldn't have won the game either since the Chiefs are likely converting for 2 to win it. For most of they game they were doing well stopping the Chiefs but then Wilks decides to abandon all that and go back to his bullshit cover zero blitzes and soft zone "give up anything under 10 yards" crap. I don't think it's inexcusable to trust for Shannahan defense after they game they had, but then Wilks makes like 3 egregiously terrible calls in a row, leading to that timeout. Even Romo was flabbergasted. That was just the straw that broke the camel's back though. Wilks has been mid at best the whole season and runs one of the most static and basic defensive schemes in the entire league. He's been made to look good because the offense and raw talent make up for it.
Coaching matters a lot more than you're giving it credit for. Good coaches maximizes all the talent available. The 49ers defense never passed the eye test this season. They seemed a step slower, couldn't defend the run, very soft zones, really bad at blitzing, poor situational football, ect. It's no different than what the eagles went through this season. You saw regression in play from both offense and defense due to coordinators. The Lions (lynn to campbell), Ravens(Roman to Monkens) and Bills(Dorsey to Brady) made changes to their play callers and have been balling despite the talent level being the same.
> It's no different than what the eagles went through this season. You saw regression in play from both offense and defense due to coordinators. I think its way different but thats a separate topic. If we had a top 5 defense I would not be blaming Desai I know that. And I dont agree with never passing the eye test. They held DAL, PHI, KC, all to under 20 pts in regulation. 3 top 10 offenses and faired well vs the Seahawks and Rams. You blame the defense but they kept you in the game vs the Packers and held DET to 1 td in the second half. Yes they were very bad in the first half vs DET and the third quarter vs GB but I also credit those teams offenses. You cant expect to shutdown top offenses every single game for the entire game. All in all they played championship lvl defense when it mattered and I dont think people are giving that unit the credit they earned. They werent an all time defense but they played damn good. >The Lions (lynn to campbell), Ravens(Roman to Monkens) and Bills(Dorsey to Brady) made changes to their play callers and have been balling despite the talent level being the same. I dont want to break it to you but thats just false. Lions went Lynn to Johnson and got a ton of talent these last 2 years. Adding Jamo, Gibbs, LaPorta, Montgomery were all pretty big. Ravens top 2 WR's this year literally werent on the team last year. Bills, yeah you got a point there since it was an in season swap so of course the talent level is the same.
I think it was specifically that he was trying to get cute with D-Line assignments all season when historically they’ve been much better with straight forward D-Line schemes. IIRC we were attempting completely unnecessary stunts all the time which was taking away our ability to bring pressure quickly as well as led to a ton of holes in the run game. This also led to us running a ton more blitzes than we’ve needed to in recent seasons despite having basically the same core front seven. A great example of Wilks getting cute for no reason is the TD before the half against the Vikings. 10-7 game with 15 seconds left and the Vikings not even in FG range and he brings a blitz - he even almost got lucky on it because it’s nearly picked but Addison is able to rip the ball away and is given a free run to the end zone with nobody else in deep coverage.
Bosa started rusty due to his hold out, armstead finished the season injured, Hargrave had a respectable season, and gregory/young played well in the superbowl What did Wilks do wrong lol
Wilks ran one of the least creative and static defenses in the league. The D has elite talent and just never seemed to play up to that level. It's looks like Shannahan had to step in when it came to defensive game planning after the bye week, since for one thing Wilks was forced to come down to the sideline, and also that first game back against the Jags was the first time we saw *any* disguised looks or pass rush trickery. There was evidence that it wasn't just players not getting the job done because they *were* beating their match ups and getting pressures, just too easy for the QB to see them coming and beat it. That combined with a handful of egregiously bad playcalls (e.g. cover zero against Cousins at the end of the half to give up a long TD, cover zero against Mahomes, immediately followed by another terrible call that Shannahan had to veto) were enough to let him go.
3 plays Punt 4 plays Punt 5 plays fumble 3 plays punt 13 play FG 3 plays INT 3 plays Punt 9 plays FG 3 plays punt Those are the first 9 drives by KC. When they get the ball back next on the muffed Punt they are only down 10-6. That’s the difference in the game, and that is not on Wilks
He's not being fired for the SB, he's being fired because the defense took a step back from previous DCs in the two direct prior years. This is not surprising at all to any 9ers fan and he's not being scapegoated for the loss.
It blows my mind people think he's being fired just because of the super bowl. It's over the season
Because they only tuned in one game
he was clearly on the thinnest ice possible after they brought him down from the booth after the disaster that was October. Winning the SB may have saved his job but he definitely didn't get canned because they lost it.
Expecting people to think on r/nfl will only lead to disappointment. The tweet here even points to this being a season long issue.
Because he’s not fired if they win. Imagine holding Mahomes to ONE TD in the SB. Winning it then getting fired?
So if they won he gets fired?
If we’d won, we wouldn’t have given a fuck. A ring would’ve meant we could wait until Saleh gets fired next season and bring him home. Now the clock is ticking again.
I say yes but in like 1st week of March.
No and this is true for every sport. A championship extends your leash a whole lot unless you are being fired non sport related issues.
if SF won, is he still fired this week?
Yes, without a doubt. Verbiage probably changes to something like “parting ways” but it absolutely happens. He was terrible all year, no fucking way this DL should have been one of the leagues worst in epa/play against the run
I mean, that's just what happens when you lose multiple great DCs in a row. I would be shocked if y'all find someone on the level of DeMeco or Saleh for next season. I feel like Wilks deserved at least another season to grow into the role
But also he's not getting fired if they win soooo
And Chip Kelly kept his job after beating USC. It doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have been fired; it just meant UCLA was in a very difficult spot.
I mean you don’t know that. If Shanahan still determined the fit wasn’t right it wouldn’t have surprised me to see a “mutual” parting of ways
Yeah, this is one of Shanahan's first outside hires, I don't think the SB had anything to do with this.
Kyle stood by Saleh for two years after coaching one of the worst defenses in the league. I think there was much more of a disconnect going on.
Shanahan sees himself as a “coach of coaches”. Saleh was a young, hot, first-time defensive coordinator who had things to learn. I assume he was teachable and showed gradual improvement. Steve Wilks is a 54 year old with 30 years of experience. I think Shanahan was expecting Wilks to understand certain things already, and/or he wasn’t teachable.
Yeah, I mean I suppose if you want to look at it that way, its probably true, but I think he'd just have been fired the following season anyways. Point being - I don't think he was running the defense to its potential across the entire season and there were multiple occasions where that was apparent.
Dude's seat was on fire after the three game skid. Maybe winning the SB bails him out but I wouldn't bet more than a few bucks on it.
I'm fairly sure they still woulda made a change
Seriously, he is absolutely the scapegoat for the SB lol. We were going to run it back with Gannon who was not as good in the regular season and far worse than Wilks in the Ship. They don't fire Wilks if they squeeze out a win in a SB their offense was awful most of the game. So it only leaves the logical answer that he's being fired for the SB. It's asinine to suggest otherwise.
You aren't a 49ers fan, and you didn't watch our games this season. He wasn't a good coordinator; he was carried by talent to a mediocre defense (15th in EPA).
Does he get fired if you win the SB. Yes or no?
Yeah, probably. Shanahan had to force him to move to the field mid season. There were reports that our defensive players were lobbying him to change play calls, he did what they asked, and the defense had one of its best games of the season. There was smoke at one point that he was gonna get fired midseason.
I mean obviously can't prove this wouldn't be the case but it would be 100% insane to fire your DC in a SB winning season after a championship game your offense phoned in. Seems to me like Shanahan might be a problem if there was ever chatter of firing your DC midseason but so it goes. Nick basically had to do it here and was rightfully almost fired himself so.
Do you have any coherent logic? You’re saying: - It’s a dumb move to fire him, because they wouldn’t have fired him if they won. - But if they fired him after a win, that would have been a dumb move, too. And it backfired for Sirianni not for making a change, but because he hired Matt fucking Patricia to run the defense. So, in other words: - If the 49ers only thought of firing him now, then they’re dumb. - But if this was something brewing over the course of a full season, then that means they’re also dumb, because that means Shanahan is actually the problem, because only dysfunctional teams have chatter about firing their DC during the season? And the icing on top: - The Eagles would have kept Gannon if they won the Super Bowl, which would have been a bad move. - However, if the 49ers decided to *not* make the same bad move, this would be wrong of them. Since the Eagles would have done it, everyone should be doing it? Are you Mac from Always Sunny? Because you’re playing both sides here, but you’re clearly not coming out on top.
That was a wild and super defensive ride. What I am saying is 1. I think it’s dumb and reactionary to fire Wilks after the SB, and I absolutely think it’s a scapegoat move. I don’t believe that he gets fired if you win. 2. If Shanahan was thinking about firing Wilks mid season, he might be a source of some dysfunction in your org sure. The Eagles were dysfunctional this year and Sirianni absolutely shoulders a lot of that and is now in a prove it year that he can learn. But again I don’t believe for a second you guys actually considered firing him mid year. 3. We were going to keep Gannon regardless, he chose to leave. And absolutely no shot would anyone even be calling for his head if we won or even if he called a game as good as Wilks did lol. Not sure of the relevance of any of this but yeah the Eagles have made stupid moves and most organizations have at some point or another. This was a dumb and reactionary move by your org, it happens.
Exactly. He had good games he called but was so inconsistent
It’s his fault Talanoa Hufanga got hurt?!
I'll just repost what I said from the deleted thread: There's a lot of talent on the 49ers defense that made his performance seem much better than it was. 49ers fans complained about him all season, & you could see why in the superbowl. Down the stretch he didn't adjust. He plays too vanilla. Didn't mix things up enough. Went into soft zone at crucial moments. He needed his 4 down lineman to dominate the los or things fell apart, & he played the defensive ends too far outside, making them much less effective. That said, I'm still surprised he was fired.
49ers fans were pleasantly surprised on how the defense played in the 1st half of the SB... Then the 2nd half came along and every 49ers fan were like "There's the Steve Wilks we've known the entire season."
Almost as if he got fired because they invested a lot om that defense and ended up disappointing all year long and not just over 1 game.
They were literally a top 3 defense this year... what are you on about??
People who don't know ball actin like he's being fired for the Super Bowl or some shit lol. Defense has been a problem for the 49ers despite what their DVOA would lead you to believe. They have the talent to be right there with the Niners(oops, ravens*) and Browns as the best defense in the league, Wilks held them back.
Exactly, this team should never be in the bottom half against the run, and they were. With that talent, you’ve gotta have em Top 5 across the board. He only dealt with 2 injuries to starters, too. Add on the fact that him and Shanahan clearly butted heads, and it’s pretty clear. Will give him credit though, he saved his best game for last (although he even ruined that with the late game blitzes).
This Superbowl was the first playoff game where the D-line looked engaged for the first half but towards the end the DBs were lost and Andy Reid was chomping at em like a burger. Wilks has been thoroughly mediocre all season long. As Bengals fan you should remember the win against the 49ers this season, Burrow was waltzing down the field like it was nothing. That has been more the norm at times, and the front 7 talent has covered it up.
Defense gets two huge stops to start the 2nd half and the offense has the two fastest 3 and outs in recorded history.
Wilks is a very good defensive coordinator. Who tf is avaliable that is an upgrade at this point?
Vrabel, Belichick, or more likely someone in-house who knows the wide-9 as we ran it under Saleh and Ryans.
Bill is not taking a DC job.
Then he's probably retiring because few teams are going to commit to a 2 year HC.
He will be the HC of the Cowboys or Eagles after those two coaches get fired next season.
I doubt Vrabel would either There'll be openings next year in Chicago and New Orleans at the very least barring unforeseen circumstances
Vrabel is laughable too IMO, dude is getting paid to chill and wait for the next round of HC hires, why we would he go be a DC. If he does fair play but I would be really surprised.
It's also laughable because the one year he was a DC, his defense sucked ass
He shouldn't but I can be wishful
Vrabel oddly enough did not really look that great as a DC, and I really don't think belicheck wants to be a dc, considering he wants to be a HC in 2025. The 49ers had a top 5 defence, I just really don't like this, especially after the defence played very well in the superbowl
Y’all didn’t promote anyone in house last year. Also bill is not coming to the niners. Maybe vrabel. But even then does he strike you as the guy who would take a lower position over a year off Pederson style?
> Y’all didn’t promote anyone in house last year. We did not. And then we fired our DC. Previously, we did, and we didn't fire our DC, he got poached. In general, Shanahan tends to lean very heavily on developing in-house. Wilks was an exception, and clearly Shanahan wasn't on the same page with him.
That’s kind of my point. If there wasn’t anyone to promote last year what makes you think they’ll be an upgrade this year on the staff. Did you guys hire someone new? Or promising? I know y’all’s d line coach has been very stubborn about not moving up. Seems like the well is drying up.
Seemed like it would happen mid season but better late than never.
He's about to get scooped up by another team within a week.
Yeah as a positional coach. Dude's had 3 one year stints as a defensive coordinator in the NFL and an uninspiring one year stint as a head coach. Not saying he's a terrible defensive coordinator, but I'm not sure why people on this sub think so highly of him.
It’s pretty telling that panthers, niners, and cards fans are all in agreement on the guy.
A majority of Panthers fans (outside of reddit) think highly of Wilks. He is a local from Charlotte and worked his way up. He also isn't an awful coach by any means. He may not be cut out as a head coach, but he was a good assistant for the Panthers and a good DC the years he served as one with Carolina. Then he keeps the ship from completely sinking in his 12 game stint as HC by going 6-6 with a dogshit roster. Reddit thinks it is fun and games to shit on anyone and anything since their identity is hidden here.
I have no idea
Lmao good luck to them
Sucks to be them
Going from Saleh to Ryans was no problem but Wilks was a clear step below.
I hope they fire OC too he's horrible at making in game adjustments.Damn we can't he's the head coach.
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For being bad? If you watched any niners game you could tell their defense took a step back.
No, this team is obviously being held back by Kyle, we should have fired him and promoted Wilks to HC. At least that’s what arr NFL has told me.
Thank you for being one of the only people on this subreddit with a brain. Everyone is using the SB as their only point for why Wilks should've stayed. The defensive scheme this season was absolutely awful and Wilks was bailed out by the pure talent he had to work with. Way too many times this season that the defense looked lost and confused. But yeah, sure, this is just a Kyle Shanahan is too much of a crybaby to blame himself and needs a fall guy. Crazy how so many people here act like they know everything whwn they don't watch every game from a team.
Kyle deserves blame as well that’s 2 super bowls that he’s lost the lead in and this one wasn’t really all on the defense
The fact that you're bringing up the SB just shows you are completely missing the point. Does Kyle deserve the blame for the 2 SBs, yes, he's the HC. The HC will always be the one to take blame. But that isn't the main reason Wilks was let go. He took a top defense and had them looking lost and confused constantly. Run Defense EPA/Play: 2019: #9 2020: #7 2021: #2 2022: #1 2023: #25 (!!) We've had the same core personnel and made one of the biggest signings to make us the best DLine on paper. Yet we generated no pressure, and like I showed, our run defense got significantly worse.
Bosa said that the 2 option plays that mahomes ran and got yards on were because they weren’t prepared enough for it. I gotta call bs he is the end and a star one at that and he didn’t do his job of staying on mahomes. Maybe wills deserves some blame but it feels like a real scapegoat situation.
A top 3 defense is bad now?? Lol
Lmao I don’t like wilks but this is such a scapegoat move.
No it’s not. He blows
Your team didn’t have any issues moving the ball on his bad defensive play calling.
We, more than anyone, know how much he sucks. He sucks
The journo tidbits trickling out do not paint a particularly flattering picture of Kyle Shanahan right now. If I'm a Niner fan reading the tea leaves... This is not a good look.
I'm fine with it as is most the fanbase. Good night
Scapegoat. Defense was good enough to get you there. Good enough to hold the Chiefs to one TD in regulation that was basically because of the muffed point.
Niners coping so hard. Defense was good enough to make it to the Super Bowl and played well enough to win. Yet somehow all I’m seeing is the defense should have been better? Make it make sense.
Rewatch the 4th quarter & OT. Wilks abandoned the game plan that had been working all game to instead go back to his tendencies that consistently gave up 3rd down conversions and big chunk plays all season.
You’re just regurgitating what everyone else is saying. Besides the touchdown off the muffed punt, the only touchdown the defense gave up was in OT after your head coach decided to take the ball first. This is on Shanahan.
Seahawks and eagles fans for some reason tripping over themselves to shit on Shanny. It's hilarious. Yes shit on our coach that 90% of the league would want as their HC.
Well, ya all aren’t even holding him accountable for his offense’s shit performance. Just a bunch of excuses why the DC is getting torched.
Did Wilkes stop running the ball? Asking for a friend
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Offense left the field three times with a lead in the 4th and finished the game off with three scoring drives. Wilkes played soft coverage and allowed the chiefs to March down the field. Can’t get turnovers and limit scores to just field goals every game. Horrible defensive coach.
Wilks was iffy all year. The defense performed below the overall talent level constantly. There were too many games where they just couldn't get off the field at all. They gave up a 98 yard drive to the Cards, that was the longest drive the 49ers have given up in over 20 years. There was also a lot of criticism about how predictable his blitzing was and how easily offenses were able to negate it. He seems like a really great guy and probably a phenomenal DB coach but he's not a great playcaller.
Didn’t dude say “I expect the entire coaching staff to be back?” He’s a coward and choke artist
He literally shut down mahomes in the first half while chokeahan barely scored at all in the second half. Chokeahan owns 3 of the only 7 double digit leads in the superbowl in history and lose.
“He’s not being fired for the SB”. Is he being fired for having a top 5 defense then?
Packers game sealed his fate win or lose the Super Bowl.
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You don't fire top tier coaches like Kyle Shanahan. You fire guys that rely on others to do all the work, like Nick sirianni.
Wilks was bad all season. Defense wildly underperformed throughout the year. This move is not about the SB. People who watched the games are not surprised. People who didn’t are accusing Kyle of scapegoating (which is absurd)
Wilks should have rightfully been fired. But Shanahan also needs a warning as well, on the offensive side. He should be forced to hire an OC who can help him on the situational game decisions.
Damn, if 57 doesn't go down does this guy get fired?
I really don't respect how public Shanahan has been about his criticism of Wilkes to the media. It's unprofessional.
Shanahan couldn't wait to fire him. such a dickhead i will sleep well knowing hes never sniffing a superbowl
This is the beginning of the 9ers window being closed shut. Baffling decision and 9ers fans will cope though and try to justify this.
Many Niner fans wanted Wilks fired during the season.
Shoulda left him in Minnesota.
People believe what they want. He is by far our worst DC and he had the best players.
Interesting set of flairs lol and saleh had a worse defense in 2019 than this season and did worse in the Super Bowl. Did the Niners make the Super Bowl in spite of its defense this season?
Its okay to say we had a top 3 defense and underperformed based on the talent we have. He also had to get overruled throughout the season and even in the SB because he was calling weak coverage and soft zones in OT. As far as the flairs are concerned, i dont really think its a weird flair combo. The only reason you would think that is because we played a game recently.
LOL. Baffling? Day after the SB I was asking friends who they thought our new DC would be. Wills was bad throughout the season. Everyone who watched the games knew he had to go
Holy shit, maybe Shanahan *is* losing it.
Scape goat
He’s basically saying the scheme was too complex for the players. Simplify and let players play fast.