Kyle Shanahan didn’t see Issac Guerendo’s slide.
The 49ers’ head coach was too busy throwing his hands in the air, signaling touchdown, and pumping his fist, to turn around and see his rookie running back — tasked with running out the clock late in the 49ers’ game against the Seahawks — slide at the 5-yard line, up five points, after 76 yards of running with 1:24 to play.
It was a play worth celebrating, even if Shanahan’s touchdown signal proved a bit premature. Two plays later, San Francisco scored a touchdown to extend their margin in a nervy contest to the final score, 36-24.
Did Guerendo need to slide and delay the proceedings further?
“Hell no,” Shanahan said after the game. “We wanted him to score.”
Yes, even the big plays proved complicated for the 49ers on Thursday. That’s what happens when you play the Seahawks—weird things happen, even if the result has been the same—a Niners win—in the last six contests.
Still, there was nothing genuinely abnormal about the Niners on Thursday.
Facing a must-win game in early October, San Francisco returned to basics to beat a weary Seahawks squad.
It worked.
We’re talking about outside-zone runs, under-center play-action passes, heavy personnel, and a lot of Deebo Samuel moving around on offense.
The tried-and-true stuff.
The 49ers had been going away from that formula, even though it wasn’t broken. They were getting too cute by far more than half, particularly in the red-zone on offense and on third downs on defense.
So, whether because of the ever-increasing list of injuries or in spite of it, the Niners found themselves replaying the hits against Seattle.
They need to keep on it like an Elton John farewell tour.
