Shanahan explains what makes the Lions offense so dangerous and originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The 49ers face the tall task of slowing down the Detroit Lions’ explosive offense when the two teams meet on “Monday Night Football” at Levi’s Stadium.
Coach Kyle Shanahan, a highly respected offensive mind himself, is well aware of the challenge San Francisco’s defense will face when they take the field against Detroit on Monday.
Shanahan explained what makes the Lions’ offense so dangerous during an interview with Greg Papa on NBC Sports Bay Area’s “49ers Game Plan.”
“You know, it starts with them [O-line]Shanahan said to Dad. “I mean, that’s really special.
“I mean, they’ve got, I don’t know how many first-round picks, but they’re all playing like this, and I think most of them are, but they’ll probably have four Pro Bowlers on their line, I think this year, so things went well for a while.
Detroit has four first-round draft picks starting on the offensive line, setting the tone up front that will allow the Lions’ talented skill position players and quarterback Jared Goff to thrive.
“But the toughness of them, the way they get off the ball, really helps them do what they want to do, because when you add an elite like Jahmyr Gibbs, with his speed, how fast he runs, the plan they use too,” Shanahan told Dad. “They have good blocking tight ends too. If you throw Jared Goff behind an O-line like that. I mean, Goff is as accurate as any quarterback in this league.”
Goff, a former No. 1 overall pick who spent the first five years of his career with the Los Angeles Rams, has confronted Shanahan often. The 49ers coach heaped praise on Goff, while also describing the difficulty of slowing down Detroit’s explosive offensive weapons.
If you don’t get him off his spot and make him change some of his, you know, his foot, his feet and his throwing angles, he’s going to cut you to pieces,” Shanahan told Dad. too long to everyone and, it’s really hard with that O-line and then you have the players they have at wideout, I mean the tough player in [Amon Ra] St. Brown.
“And then you have the speed with, [Jameson] Williams, they are, they’re a tough deal, man, and how good their tight end is, so they got to all the spots and that’s why they can stay balanced as well.
The Lions have the NFL’s No. 1 scoring offense going into the 2024 season, averaging 32.8 points per game as offensive coordinator Ben Johnson continues to push all the right buttons. Detroit has the second-highest total yards, totaling 6,129 yards in 15 games (408.6 per game), with opponents on their way to a 13-2 record despite catastrophic injuries on the defensive side of the ball .
While the 49ers have been eliminated from 2024 NFL playoff contention, San Francisco still has plenty to play for as these two squads face off in a rematch of last season’s NFC Championship Game.
For the 49ers to triumph again, it will take a heroic effort from their defense if they have any hope of slowing the Lions’ massive offense.
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