Originally posted by ajsjohnson:
Shanahan can win games with his scheming, but in this case (Atlanta) he heavily contributed to losing one because of it. Garoppolo had no time and wasn't sharp to begin with, and almost exclusively throwing to our most obvious target only helps the other team--ignoring this because of his own hubris is a big reason why we lost. At the same time, I am pretty sure Saleh is off most of those coaching "short lists" he was supposedly on after the last few weeks; He hasn't shown much of anything in terms of innovation or ability to adjust. I honestly think he has looked good because we upgraded personnel to the point where we could execute hi scheme to begin with. Once people figured out how to attack it he has had zero ability to make adjustments, and he ignores obvious weaknesses like the fact that Julio Jones was killing us by himself. How you don't rotate extra coverage his way is utterly baffling. He is by far their best player--Saleh almost deserves to be fired for that alone. I think this loss also exposes the weakness of the wide 9 when your interior linemen are getting manhandled like ours was--we obviously sorely miss DJ in the middle, and the only pressure we got was from Bosa out wide (who still had to fight his way back inside to make a play because Ryan ALWAYS had a place to step up into to avoid him). The next two games are must win now, and based on this game and the defense's struggles I am not too sure we will win them. Wild card at 11-5 is still a big improvement from last year and I will take it, but considering how things have unfolded with injuries and coaching missteps I can't help but feel a little bit let down. Lets hope Shanny and Saleh can figure stuff out and that the players act like pros and come out prepared--no dropped balls, dropped INTs, missed tackles, broken coverages, turnovers or stupid penalties.....
Holy wall of text Batman.