Shanahan: Freshness not scheme is the key to short-week football
Channel: topvidéos tech dala
Date: 2017-09-21

As the NFL prepares to stage its second short-week game of the 2017 season, it’s important to consider the perspective shared by new 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan regarding what it takes to win on Thursday after playing on Sunday.

“[T]hese Thursday night games, [it] doesn’t come down to scheme very much,” Shanahan said earlier this week. “It comes down to how fresh the players are, who recovers more from the Sunday before that, and who feels less sorry for themselves for how they are feeling and really goes out there and competes the hardest.”

While it’s hard to know how quickly players are recovering given the limited value of the injury report and there’s no way of knowing who will be motivated in the moment to compete harder, there’s a chance the Rams will be feeling more sorry for themselves than the 49ers, since L.A. lost a home game to Washington and the 49ers fought an elite Seattle franchise tooth and nail in their own building.

Of course, that may have left the 49ers more worn out than the Rams. We’ll find out on Thursday night, when a franchise with a 3-19 record over the last 22 games but a 3-0 mark in that same stretch against the Rams gets what could be a rare crack at a W.
ERIES HISTORY: 135th regular-season meeting. 49ers lead series, 67-64-3. This game marks an intriguing, new chapter in a long NFC West rivalry. It is a generational family affair. John McVay, grandfather of new Rams coach Sean, was VP of the 49ers in the 1990s when Mike Shanahan, father of new 49ers head coach Kyle, was offensive coordinator in S.F. Earlier this year, Kyle interviewed three times for the Rams job, but bad weather canceled a fourth meeting. So, Sean took the job in L A. and Kyle in S.F. It's almost unfathomable this series is as close as it is considering the 49ers won 17 straight against the Rams during a span from 1990 through 1998 that covered Los Angeles and St. Louis. In fact, the 49ers have won three straight against the Rams.

KEYS TO THE GAME: These new coaches hope to create two teams of the future, although the Rams have a head-start with Jared Goff already in place, trying to prove he was worthy of last year's No. 1 pick as a franchise QB. He showed vast improvement at times in the first two games this season. His favorite target is rookie Cooper Kupp, but he must avoid forcing the ball. RB Todd Gurley seems to be playing back up to star status after a bad 2016.

The 49ers were booed off the field in their 23-3 home-opening loss to Carolina as impatient fans are paying exorbitant fees at Levi's and still have lingering daydreams of Montana and Young, but current QB Brian Hoyer, considered a place-holder until somebody better is found next year, has yet to throw a touchdown and has a passer rating of 60.7. Meanwhile, RB Carlos Hyde is their most consistent offensive weapon. Starting rookie linebacker Reuben Foster was in a walking boot Tuesday, SS Eric Reid (knee) is out and his replacement, Jaquiski Tartt (sore neck) practiced but is not 100 percent.