How the 49ers trapped the Rams on their first touchdown

Every great pitcher has a counter to his main pitch.

Every great boxer has a counter to his knockout punch.

Similarly, every great offensive coordinator has a counter to their favorite play or scheme. The San Francisco 49ers’ first touchdown in their win against the Rams is an example of head coach Kyle Shanahan not only knowing himself, but how other teams play his schemes.

The Jeff Wilson 32-yard touchdown run on the first drive of the game is the changeup on the Kyle Shanahan/Shanahan variant fastball: 18/19 Toss Zorro. 18 or 19 is the side the ball is run to, and Zorro is the concept, an outside zone toss designed to attack the edges of the defense.

This is what it looks like when the play is run. The fullback takes on the end man on the line of scrimmage, while the tight end attacks the second level.

Well, Shanahan hit the okey doke on this play against the Niners biggest rivals: the Los Angeles Rams.

QB Jimmy Garoppolo sends George Kittle in motion, a surge motion to be exact (the blocker is in motion as the ball is snapped). This looks like Toss Zorro on it’s surface.

However...

The Niners run trap-wham instead of the outside zone toss. The center holds up the shaded nose tackle long enough for TE Charlie Woerner to come back across to block the nose, a basic Wham concept executed so well George Michael would be proud. Then, the center pulls back across to block the edge, “trapping” the edge defender.

RB Jeff Wilson finds the crease, and he’s off to the races.

Watch how the Rams’ LBs are affected by the motion across by Kittle. All throughout the week they’ve probably seen the Niners run Toss Zorro with that same motion, so now they’re trying their hardest to get over the top of the blockers to get the edge.

The Niners pull the rug out from under their feet, and leads to an easy six points.

Look at how Ernest Jones for the Rams begins to slide over as the motion happens, and Bobby Wagner (45) busts his ass to get over the top of the center to get the cutback. However, they were suckered in and the Niners hit the early haymaker.

With Trey Lance and Trent Williams out for an extended period of time, Shanahan is going to need more creativity in the run game like this to keep the Niners afloat, along with their feisty defense. Last year the Niners faced 7 or more defenders in the box on 78% of their rushing attempts, or 387 out of 498 snaps. In order to maximize the run game in these loaded fronts, they’ll have to create angles for themselves using scheme and design.

Which shouldn’t be a problem for Kyle Shanahan.