Kyle Shanahan didn’t have a detailed explanation for the San Francisco 49ers’ hook and lateral in the first quarter of last Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. In fact, even though the play turned into a long Deebo Samuel touchdown, Shanahan’s reason for calling off the play might be better than the outcome. The reason? He was frustrated.
The 49ers opened the game with a false start, followed it with two unsuccessful plays and suddenly faced third-and-13 on their first possession. Rather than settle for a conservative decision and potentially go three-way, Shanahan decided to take a chance.
“I was pissed that we had a false start on the first play, I was pissed that the next two plays didn’t work, I was pissed that it was third-and-13, and I didn’t want to make a triple,” Shanahan told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco. “So I just said, fuck it, let’s go right now.”
The result was one of the most memorable plays of the 49ers’ young season. Mike Evans caught the pass and passed the ball laterally to Samuel, who turned downfield and scored an 80-yard touchdown. Samuel’s speed contributed to the play’s success, but Shanahan admitted that the play itself isn’t something the 49ers spend a lot of time practicing. This is because hooking and lateraling are not necessarily linked to any particular defensive tendency.
“There’s not really any rhyme or reason when it comes to hook and lateral,” Shanahan said. “You just hope everyone pays attention to one guy and see if you can sneak him in.”
The 49ers are keeping the game available throughout the season. They don’t usually run it at full speed during practice, but Shanahan said they reviewed it during Saturday’s presentation so the players involved remember how it’s supposed to work. This was sufficient preparation for Evans and Samuel.
“It’s just a little draw that we always work on on Saturdays in case we need it, and it’s usually enough if you have the right guys,” Shanahan added. “If you don’t have the right guys, you better work a lot on this and usually you’ll probably scare me before you call it.”
The 49ers have run the game before with a different combination of players. Shanahan said they ran it twice last season, with Ricky Pearsall catching the ball and passing it laterally to Christian McCaffrey. One of those attempts produced a 23-yard gain on second-and-16. The other, against Cleveland, blew up before the field could take place.
The bigger picture is that Shanahan doesn’t view trick plays as something to be called simply for the sake of being creative. Most of the “specials” on his call sheet are designed because the coaching staff sees something in an opponent’s defense that they think can be exploited.
The hook and the lateral are different. “It’s more like a screwed up game,” Shanahan said. “Let’s just see what happens because we’re in a bad situation. Let’s just see if we can get one cheap.”
That’s what happened against Arizona. The 49ers needed 13 yards. Shanahan did not want to abandon his campaign with a conservative appeal. So he reached into the toolbox and called out a piece that had barely been practiced. It worked. And now we know the reason for that call had less to do with brilliant schematic discovery and more to do with the fact that Shanahan was fed up with the way the opening possession played out.
Sometimes “who cares” works.
Watch Maiocco’s full interview with Shanahan below:
More info on: Mike Evans, Christian McCaffrey, Ricky Pearsall, Deebo Samuel
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