The San Francisco 49ers are on the road to face the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. It's not exactly the marquee matchup they had against the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday night. But it is an important one, nonetheless. Especially when you're tied for the conference lead with the Philadephia Eagles, and figure to be fighting for the number-one seed with those Eagles come December.
Greg Papa, in the weekly NBC Sports Bay Area interview with Kyle Shanahan, asked the 49ers' head coach about, among other things, Brock Purdy's arm talent. Papa brought up the back-to-passes to Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel against the Cowboys. This was, of course, the two plays where Purdy hit Aiyuk for a 40-yard gain, but the play was called back on a Spencer Burford holding penalty. Then on the very next play, Purdy hit Samuel on a third and 14 throw over the middle that went for a big gain.
Both were beautiful throws that critics say Purdy can't make. So what does the 49ers' head coach think of his QB's arm talent?
"He can throw it. I mean, he's very accurate," Shanahan said. "He knows when to throw it. He knows where to throw. I mean, it's not much different in practice as it is in the games, but you know, people talk about Brock's arm strength.
"Brock can make any throw on the field in the timing of the play. You know, he's not going to sit there and be really late and take a bunch of hitches, staring something down, and just throw to the opposite side, 70 yards. Not many people in the world are going to do that, but that's also usually a bad decision when you do that. What's great about Brock is he wants the big play. He's aggressive for the big play and he can see it in the timing of the play, so he's not going to force anything. But when it's there and our play is going there, he doesn't hesitate. It goes there every time the coverage gives him that.
"And if they're back at all taking that away, he doesn't hesitate to the second level and he doesn't hesitate to the bottom. So Brock is fun to call plays for because you can get aggressive and you know he'll take it if it shows because that's what you work on and you talk all week, but you're also not scared to call it because if it doesn't show, he's not, usually not, going to force it. He's going to see right away what you've been talking about, know that's not the look, and get the ball to someone underneath. And when we get balls to people underneath, we usually make some big plays, too, because we got some talented guys who can run with it."
Shanahan also had some good things to say about Jordan Mason, who had 10 carries for 69 yards against Dallas. Shanahan mentioned that he had received analytics showing that Mason is currently top three (or so) in the league in yards after contact versus when he's expected to be tackled. Mason ran hard on Sunday and was very productive when he was on the field.
The conversation turned to the Browns' defense, particularly Myles Garrett. The Cleveland defense is considered one of the best, if not the best, in the NFL, especially against the run. Shanahan confirmed the Browns' defense is the best the 49ers have seen so far. this season.
Shanahan added, "But just looking at these guys up front, their linebackers, to their two corners, their safeties, and also playing them there, with the crowd noise and stuff, with how their D-line is, just like with us, it's a huge advantage for us when we play at home, the way we get off the ball, GTFO, and when you can't hear that snap, it's a problem. So we've been working on it all week because going against Myles Garrett and that scheme and how they do it, it's going to be a huge challenge."
The 49ers have already had to play three of the league's best pass rushers this season, in T.J. Watt, Aaron Donald, and Micah Parsons. And now, with Garrett, they face one of the most dynamic defensive players in the game. Garrett has the speed of pass rushers like Parsons. Garrett also has the size that few elite pass rushers have and is even bigger than 49ers' star, Nick Bosa.
"Yes, and it gets confirmed with the analytics, but it shows on tape," Shannahan said. "I mean, it jumps off the screen. It looked like that way in college, and he's only gotten a lot better since. So he's long, he's violent, and he's in a scheme that allows him to be that way and to play to his max. And he's been a problem for a lot of teams this year, and we've got our work cut out with him."
When asked about how the Cleveland crowd could affect the game, Shanahan confirmed that the Browns' fanbase would make their presence known and that the goal is to make the crowd quiet by getting off to a good start.
"Their defense will tee off with this crowd," said Shanahan. "People in Cleveland are awesome. I was only there a year, but they love football, they truly enjoy it and they kind of live for it. So you know they're going to be ready to go. Got us coming in and it'll be a good environment, one that we need to be battle-tested for. And I thought Pittsburgh would be loud, but just the way the game went, it wasn't that loud.
"When we go to Rams, we feel like that's home game anyways. Cleveland should be a test for us for crowd noise and we need that."
The 49ers have won 15 regular season games in a row, tying a franchise record that goes back to the 1988-1989 seasons. Papa mentioned this in the interview and added that if the 49ers beat the Browns on Sunday, they will break the record held by the only teams in 49ers' history to win back-to-back Super Bowls. Papa then asked Shanahan if he had mentioned that to the team.
"No, I honestly didn't know until you said that," Shanahan responded. "I mean, I've heard it sometime in the last few weeks that it's getting close, but a record over two seasons, it is what it is. We want a record like those teams used to have, which is doing good in the playoffs and being the last team standing."
Only time will tell if the 49ers can end the streak the way the 1989 49ers finished...with a championship.