Are you ready for the Coaching Tree Bowl?
Kyle Shanahan vs. Sean McVay.
The offensive coaches who spawned an ever-growing web — seemingly every other coach hired in the last three years — clash once more. Technically Shanahan could claim McVay, as the Rams coach was an assistant for Shanahan when he was the offensive coordinator in Washington (back when that team still had a slur for a nickname). But they aren't carbon copies.
For years, Shanahan got the better of McVay in the regular season, then McVay beat him in the playoffs last season, en route to a Super Bowl. Neither of these teams this year have looked quite like the groups that worked their way through the NFC postseason field, and I certainly have some questions with each. Is the Rams offensive line as good as it was, and is left tackle an issue? Can the 49ers function at all on offense without their left tackle, Trent Williams, given that this offense was barely functional with him? Did Jimmy Garoppolo work off the rust at practice this week?