CrimsonCrew wrote:Pattersonca65 wrote:CrimsonCrew wrote:
I've said this before, but Shanahan is a great big picture coach. He's creative, he can identify guys who fit his system, and his system - especially on offense - is one of the best. But I'd like to see more Harbaugh in him. Harbaugh certainly wasn't a playcaller, but he was a detail guy. Again, not perfect; remember all the delay of games and blown TOs? But his teams executed at the margins really well. He wanted a close, physical game and he trusted his guys to pull it out at the end.
Kyle is the opposite. He wants to win by 20 points. And with a full complement of offensive players and a functional D, he's one of the coaches that can do that. But when it gets muddy down the stretch in a close game, his teams just don't finish the way Harbaugh's did.
And honestly, that's maybe the best argument not to give Purdy a big deal. We saw in this game that Purdy can absolutely still be an excellent QB without all his weapons. But without those weapons, we aren't going to score 35 a game. We'll have too many individual lapses (Bell - and Aiyuk - drops, McKivitz blowing blocks, Brendel getting mauled in the run game) to sustain drives like we can with a full complement of players. And I don't know that the other aspects of Kyle's team can rise to the occasion and cover for that without a truly elite defense.
So no knock - at all - on Purdy, but it just may be that Shanahan is at his best compensating for a middle-of-the-road QB (to be explicit, I do NOT believe Purdy is middle-of-the-road) with elite units around that guy instead of cleaning up other areas to support an expensive QB.
I don't see Harbaugh detail guy in part for the reasons you explained above and in part because he isn't a playcaller. To me Bill Walsh was a detail guy and in alot of ways Harbaugh was the anti-Walsh. They were different in many ways. As far as paying Purdy goes, setting aside whether he is worth paying and whether he is the franchise QB, I think it is better trying to win and build around a franchise QB than trying to build an elite roster around a middle of the road QB. Sustained success in the NFL is difficult regardless of which way the organization chooses to go but so far it seems the first option is better than the second. Purdy hasn't even been paid yet and already we are seeing our elite defense slipping which to date is no longer elite.
Yeah, Harbaugh still isn't a great example. Walsh and Belichick were fanatics about that sort of thing. Harbaugh still did plenty of things that were frustrating. It's more the ability to close out close games that Harbaugh seemed to have to an extent that Shanahan does not. And maybe that's as simple as the effectiveness of the power run game in the 4th quarter when the defense is tired.
Regardless, it's something Shanahan needs to improve upon.
There may be something to that. While the oline was far from perfect under Harbaugh the 49ers than had big guys that were inside power running guys that could also pass block and hold their own against a talented DL. Shanahan prefers the zone running system and athletic olineman who are not necessarily good pass blockers. When they drafted McClinghey the knowingly sacrificed pass blocking for an elite run blocker. Other than Trent and maybe Banks, the 49ers have subpar guys on the line. Maybe Puni turns out to be good one but it seems we have an oline when faced with a good dline crumbles. They are currently 22nd in pass blocking. That isn't going to cut it.
