Off to a 3-0 start, the San Francisco 49ers are heading back home in Week 4, as they’ll face the Denver Broncos at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday in one of their early tests of the season.
San Francisco’s offense has been humming early, despite a bevy of injuries, as Brock Purdy has played at an MVP-like level to start the season. The Broncos, on the other hand, haven’t looked as clean. They were a mess against the Kansas City Chiefs on both sides of the ball in Week 1. But they’ve had quality wins over
the Jacksonville Jaguars and Los Angeles Rams over the past two weeks, with the offense finally coming alive in Week 3.
There was a lot of coaching talk regarding the Broncos this offseason, as head coach Sean Payton relegated playcalling to offensive coordinator Davis Webb in an effort to keep him in Denver. There have been some mixed results with the process, leading people to question whether that move was ultimately the right one.
The 49ers have dabbled in the preseason with play-calling changes, as Kyle Shanahan has often passed the clipboard to Klay Kubiak, San Francsico’s offensive coordinator. What did he think of the change, and how could it affect Sunday’s game?
“I’m sure it’s hard [on Davis Webb], but sometimes I think it’s overrated,” Shanahan said about the situation. “I guarantee, without me knowing, I guarantee Sean’s a big part of all of that on game day and during the week. It’s only been three games, so you can’t really tell yet. I mean, you can see over the course of the year, but sometimes I think that stuff’s made too big a deal about.
“I can’t tell you how much Klay’s involved in what we do, and I call it so people give me the credit. But if he was calling it, it wouldn’t be much different either. It has to do with the plan that you do in the week. Most of the situational stuff you guys already have an idea where you’re going, and we all have a headset, so you can chime in on a lot of stuff anytime. So, I think a lot of that stuff’s a little overrated.”
Of course, Shanahan has long been used to being the team’s play-caller in addition to head coach. How has he found the process beneficial over his coaching career?
“Yeah, definitely. I enjoy it a lot, so that would kind of be hard, but it gets made such a big deal about just this day and age,” Shanahan said about play-calling. “My dad called plays for a long time, and then him and Gary [Kubiak] would switch it off all the time. Sometimes Gary would open the game and then he’d give it to my dad. Second quarter, they’d go back and forth.
“When I was in Houston, Gary and I did that a lot. Sometimes I would take it, sometimes he would take it. It’d go back and forth. The main thing is who talks to the quarterback. It takes a little bit longer when the guy talking to the quarterback isn’t the guy calling plays, so that’s kind of the negative of it and that’s what is hard about going back and forth. But yeah, if I felt that was the best thing for our team, I’d for sure do it.”
We’ll see how smooth that operation is for the Broncos in Week 5, as they’ll have to deal with a road environment once again. But Denver is experimenting with change early this season, and there have been some ups and downs so far.
