For the first time in four years, the 49ers aren’t in the playoffs — they’re sitting at home watching like the rest of us. Hopefully, they learn something from this experience so they don’t repeat it next year. The league has changed considerably since the 49ers were in the Super Bowl last year.
Here are five things the 49ers should take away from the playoff games so far.
1. Andy Reid is the only remaining head coach who calls plays.
And he’s one of the greatest play-callers ever. He’s able to put together creative and effective play sequences for the Chiefs offense while managing the game at the same time. The other three head coaches who are still alive — Nick Sirianni, Dan Quinn and Sean McDertmott — all delegate play calling to their coordinators so they can focus on managing the game. Kyle Shanahan should consider doing the same thing considering game management has been his Achilles’ heel in each of his playoff losses.
2. The four remaining teams all start dual-threat quarterbacks.
Not just mobile quarterbacks. Guys who essentially can function as change-of-pace running backs when the weather isn’t conducive to passing. This was a huge advantage for the Eagles in the snow on Sunday because they can win when Jalen Hurts throws only 20 passes. The Rams can’t win that way. They need Stafford to throw much more frequently, which hurt them in the NFC Championship. Purdy would have struggled in that environment as well — he was dreadful in the Buffalo snow last month. He needs home-field advantage in the playoffs. He’s not built to win in Philadelphia or Washington in January.
3. The 49ers need to defend the run better to beat the current version of the Eagles.
The Rams have a great defensive line, but their linebackers are just ordinary, and so they gave up 285 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns to the Eagles on Sunday. The Rams got mauled. The Eagles offensive line was too big and Saquon Barkley was too good. Even when the Rams loaded the box, they missed tackles and gave up long touchdown runs. The 49ers’ run defense is bad too because they’re weak at defensive tackle and thin at linebacker. They need to address both of those positions this offseason.
4. The 49ers need to run more and pass less next season.
That’s what the Eagles did this season. They reduced Jalen Hurts throwing attempts compared to 2023 because they added Saquon Barkley to their offense. Which means they made Hurts a complementary piece even though he’s their highest-paid player. The 49ers need to do the same thing with Brock Purdy. He’s an excellent complementary player when he’s surrounded by talent, but he’s not the man. The more he throws, the more mistakes he’ll make. The 49ers to run as much as possible, which means they need to keep Christian McCaffrey healthy and draft a running back who can split carries with him.
5. The best teams don’t beat themselves.
The Texans think they got screwed by the officials, but they really beat themselves. They gave up eight sacks while the Chiefs gave up just three, which is a big reason the Texans scored just 14 points while the Chiefs scored 23. In addition, the Bills didn’t do anything special to beat Baltimore. They simply protected the football while the Ravens turned it over three times and dropped it on the final two-point conversion. The 49ers beat themselves repeatedly at the end of close games this season. Before they can even think about defeating their opponents next season, they have to learn how to not beat themselves.
Download and follow The Cohn Zohn Podcast.
