Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Saturday, February 3rd, 2024 John Lynch talks 49ers’ effort issues, Jake Moody and stopping Chiefs’ unique chemistry (paywall) “Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks said the 49ers have to be especially focused on Kelce when the play breaks down and Mahomes starts to scramble. That’s when their special chemistry can be most damaging. “That’s a point we try to emphasize in practice — the down is never over,” he said. “We’ve got to be ready to extend the down once Mahomes starts scrambling.” Lynch noted the Mahomes-Kelce connection has a third member, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid. “I think you have to give Andy a lot of credit for giving them that freedom,” Lynch said. “A lot of coaches will say: ‘Hey, you’ve got to play within our system. You’ve got to run the route called.’ And you can tell a lot of times (Kelce’s) just making it up. But it works out really well.” John Lynch says 49ers can’t start slow versus Chiefs, addresses lack of defensive effort and more “One of the off-field qualities to Nick Bosa is the fact that he gives a speech every Saturday before the 49ers play. It’s a duty Kyle Shanahan said he entrusted to Bosa. While he was initially uncomfortable with the duty — Shanahan joked that it’s the hardest part of Bosa’s week — it’s one the 49ers seem to revel in. Lynch said that those speeches are can’t-miss because of their surprising insight. “I hear every one of them,” Lynch said. “You don’t miss those because they’re special. They really are. The kid, he doesn’t say a lot, but when he does, it’s very prophetic.” Montana offers intriguing take on Purdy ‘game-manager’ discussion “The thing I see [with Purdy] is something that I figured out early on in my career — what the offense is about,” Montana told McAfee. “It wasn’t about me. It was about getting the ball to the people who knew what to do with it because I’m the mailman — [the football] doesn’t belong to me — I want to get it to somebody who knows how to run, knows how to catch. “We had, especially late in my career, guys like Jerry Rice, John Taylor, Brent Jones [and] Roger Craig — all you have to do is get the ball to them. If you look at the weapons Brock’s working with, he’s figured that offense out. He understands what his position is. He doesn’t try to make a big play. He knows when that chance will come and when he needs to do it, but in most cases, it’s okay to punt. ‘I got a pretty good defense, too,’ and that’s what we had, pretty much the same thing. “[Purdy] understands [his role], he’s calm in [the pocket]. He has a great presence and he’s not trying to knock you out with the football. He delivers a great, catchable ball.” Steve Wilks’ road back: Inside 49ers DC’s path to Super Bowl “Wilks says being in San Francisco has opened his eyes to the amount of detail and resources that go into a successful franchise. He asks questions about everything — from a team’s nutrition plan to their long-term salary cap health.” 49ers’ Lynch confident Moody ready for Super Bowl moment after struggles “Lynch said he is proud of the season Moody put together while coming into a pressure-packed situation on a team with Super Bowl aspirations. Lynch said Moody’s steady demeanor gives him confidence he can perform when the pressure is at its greatest. “We felt very convicted then to go take a third-round (pick) on a kicker,” Lynch said. “We did have three picks and (it was) something we needed. We had a lot of confidence in Jake and we still have a lot of confidence in Jake because we see him day-in and day-out.” Kawakami: 49ers’ Jed York on another Super Bowl shot, Brock Purdy and mending fences with Jim Harbaugh (paywall) “York notably scheduled the 49ers’ 10th anniversary celebration of Harbaugh’s 2012 Super Bowl team during Michigan’s bye week last season. Harbaugh showed up. During a dinner at the festivities, York invited Harbaugh to the stage, and the two men shared a moment together. “We had connected a little bit before that,” York said. “And then we invited him to come out and told him that we set it up for that week because Michigan had a bye that week. And you’re celebrating the 10th anniversary of a team going to a Super Bowl. It means something. “And I think with anything, people mature, time passes and you tend to remember a lot more of the good things than maybe the not-so-good things. I’m happy for him. Again, he’s heckuva coach. York would’ve said none of those words five or six years ago. He’s saying them now. He means them.” Silver: What if 49ers had lost to the Lions instead of reaching the Super Bowl? (paywall) “Sure, getting punked by the Chiefs might provoke some of the same stress points, but Shanahan and Lynch would still find it easier to make the case — to fans, to York and to one another — that they’re very close to a championship and simply need to make a few tweaks. Had the 49ers lost last Sunday, it could have imperiled the operation and tarnished their shared legacies. There was that much on the line. When he took that elevator ride from Level 8 to the bottom floor at halftime, it had to be difficult for Lynch to stave off a downward spiral, with so much potential misery looming. Thanks to the third-quarter flurry that saved the 49ers’ season, that’s something the GM won’t have to confront.” Why this year’s 49ers team reminds the ‘Greatest Show on Turf’ Rams of their Super Bowl run (paywall) “Bill got a glass of white wine and sat down on the couch,” Martz said. “And I asked, ‘Coach, how are you gonna be this year?’” To this day nearly 44 years later, Martz — the former St. Louis Rams coach and play-calling architect of their “Greatest Show on Turf” offense — remains stunned by Walsh’s answer. “Well, first of all, we drafted a kid in the third round named Joe Montana,” Walsh said, according to Martz. “People don’t know how good he is. He is top notch. He’ll put this league on its ear.” Martz had his doubts. Sure, Montana had been a good college quarterback at Notre Dame, but he was kind of small. Walsh pressed forward. He said would start veteran Steve DeBerg until he was confident Montana understood his offensive concepts. “And then we’ll make the change,” Walsh said, according to Martz. Montana took over as the 49ers’ starter in 1980. The 49ers won the Super Bowl to close the 1981 season.“ Brock Purdy’s hometown reveling in 49ers QB’s success: ‘It’s pretty nuts’ (paywall) “Before Purdy enrolled at Perry in fall 2014, Jones said, many of his players had behavioral issues. Like a lot of so-called “jocks,” they acted entitled, bullied non-athletes and sometimes talked back to teachers. That began to change when Purdy established himself as one of Perry’s top players. Eager to emulate Purdy, teammates started to be kinder, befriending students from a wide range of cliques and standing up for kids who were being teased. Still, Purdy’s kindness stood out. He addressed teachers as “sir” or “ma’am,” led Perry’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter for two years, and once spearheaded a “Shop with a Jock” event in which Phoenix-area athletes took underprivileged kids on a Christmas shopping spree at Walmart.” Branch: Cure for 49ers’ struggling defense in the Super Bowl? More gas, less brakes (paywall) “Those things have been addressed,” said Lynch, a Hall of Fame safety known for his intensity. “We’ve got one game. I would really be shocked if we saw that again … Those aren’t plays that we’re proud of, that those players are proud of.” https://www.ninersnation.com/2024/2/3/2 ... omes-swift
