The Blitz: How Kyle Shanahan and the Battered 49ers are Thriving

Ben Johnson in Chicago, Liam Coen in Jacksonville and Mike Vrabel in New England deserve kudos for their work transforming downtrodden franchises into division leaders, but there is one coach who stands out above the rest in 2025.

Kyle Shanahan should be the consensus choice as the NFL Coach of the Year for the wonders he's worked in the Bay Area. 

Though the aforementioned first-year trio has surprised the football world with their impressive rebuilding efforts, the San Francisco 49ers have a chance to claim the NFC’s No. 1 seed heading into Sunday's pivotal showdown against the Seattle Seahawks despite missing their top tackler (linebacker Fred Warner) and star pass rusher (defensive end Nick Bosa), while dealing with a WR1 (Brandon Aiyuk) who went AWOL instead of returning to action following a season-ending knee injury. 

Head coach Kyle Shanahan has the 49ers on the verge of the NFC's top seed despite an abundance of injuries.

With the team also dealing with the brief absences of Brock Purdy (eight games; turf toe), George Kittle (six games; hamstring and ankle injuries) and Trent Williams (most of Week 17 with hamstring strain), Shanahan has worked his magic to keep the 49ers in title contention with most of the blue-chip players shuttling in and out of the lineup. 

Considering how the challenges forced the 49ers to adapt and adjust on the fly, the play-calling wizard and his staff have demonstrated the schematic flexibility to mask their deficiencies while elevating the backups thrust into prominent roles. Starting with quarterback Mac Jones, who completed 69.6 percent of his passes for 2,151 yards with 13 touchdowns against six interceptions in eight games, the 49ers featured a handful of base concepts concealed