The quintessential San Francisco 49ers ahead cross travels roughly 15 toes via the air. It might be thrown by the rookie quarterback Brock Purdy to targets like Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey or George Kittle, who then dodge, weave, dash or steam roll via defenders to remodel what regarded like a meager 5-yard cross right into a spotlight.
The 49ers have lengthy been infamous for relying upon quick tosses to speedy but burly receivers to maximise yards after the catch, or YAC. The 49ers led the N.F.L. in YAC per reception in 2019 (6.6), 2020 (6.2) and 2021 (6.5). They tied the Kansas City Chiefs and Carolina Panthers for the league lead with 6.6 YAC per reception in the 2022 common season.
That’s proper: Kansas City, whereas nonetheless an aerial circus, additionally depends closely on yards after the catch to complement its offense. So do the Philadelphia Eagles, who completed tied for fifth in the N.F.L. with 5.8 YAC per reception. Even the Cincinnati Bengals, whose signature play stays a moon launch from Joe Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase, completed tied for eleventh in the league with 5.2 YAC per reception.
All 4 groups that reached their convention’s championship recreation counted as a lot or extra on their playmakers to generate passing yardage as they did upon the fastball-hurling heroics of their quarterbacks. Yet there’s a lot multiple approach to spin some YAC.
The 49ers’ offense, initially constructed for the unassuming Jimmy Garoppolo, is sort of customized tailor-made to the wants of an inexperienced passer like Purdy.
Samuel is a receiver with the strikes and energy of a operating again; McCaffrey a operating again with a receiver’s velocity and fingers; and Kittle a decent finish with the traits of a Marvel superhero. No protection is provided to cowl three receivers with such various ability units, and Coach Kyle Shanahan clumps them into unpredictable configurations then sends them into surprising patches of the subject looking for mismatches. Purdy performs extra like a degree guard than a quarterback, dispensing dimes after which watching the drives and dunks.
Once Purdy’s tosses attain their targets, the juking and trucking begins. Broken and eluded tackles are an unofficial stat, however per Sports Info Solutions, Samuel broke or eluded 27 tackles on receptions, the highest determine in the N.F.L. amongst receivers, regardless of lacking 4 video games with accidents. McCaffrey broke or eluded 13 tackles after becoming a member of the 49ers by way of a commerce from the Panthers in October. Brandon Aiyuk, the 49ers’ deep risk, added 16 damaged or eluded tackles, whereas Kittle pitched in 12.
Thanks to all the evasive maneuvers, the typical 49ers completion traveled simply 5.4 yards downfield via the air, tied for the ninth-lowest determine in the league, however resulted in a 12.0 yard achieve, the league’s fifth-highest common.
Patrick Mahomes hardly requires coaching wheels to function Kansas City’s offense. When Kansas City traded the All-Pro deep risk Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins earlier than the season, nevertheless, Mahomes and the workforce downshifted right into a shorter passing assault constructed round Travis Kelce, who led all tight ends with 24 damaged or eluded tackles in the common season and caught 14 passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns in final week’s 27-20 divisional-round victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
On the uncommon events Kelce isn’t open, Mahomes usually jettisons quick lobs to operating again Jerick McKinnon, whose 9.7 YAC per reception ranked third in the N.F.L. Kansas City’s recreation plans are additionally loaded with shovel passes and different glorified handoffs designed to ship the ball to Kelce (5.9 YAC per reception) or speedsters like Kadarius Toney (7.3), who was acquired in a midseason cope with the Giants.
Mahomes sprained his proper ankle towards the Jaguars, limiting his mobility and skill to plant his foot to throw downfield. He is predicted to play towards the Bengals in the A.F.C. championship recreation Sunday; if he can’t, the backup Chad Henne (primarily an assistant coach in pads and a helmet) will get the begin. Either means, Kansas City will in all probability rely closely on its YAC recreation.
For pass-catchers like Samuel and Kelce, yards after catch usually contain a slalom via rush-hour site visitors. The Eagles’ A.J. Brown, nevertheless, generates a lot of his YAC on leisurely jogs into the finish zone after torching a defender on a deep catch. Brown produced 152 yards after catch on passes that traveled 20 yards via the air to succeed in him, the highest determine in the league.
Not all of the Eagles’ yards after catch come on glorified victory laps, nevertheless. As the Giants discovered their 38-7 loss to the Eagles on Saturday, Philadelphia Coach Nick Sirianni likes to scatter his receivers close to the sideline so Jalen Hurts can fling fast screens instantly after the snap. By the time defenders sift via all the blocking and braiding, tight finish Dallas Goedert (7.6 YAC per reception) or receiver DeVonta Smith (5.2) may already be in the finish zone.
A robust downfield passing recreation can drive the opposing protection to play on its heels, which creates plenty of open house for catch-and-run alternatives in the center of the subject. Kansas City and Philadelphia use such techniques successfully, however Cincinnati excels at punishing opponents who line their safeties up in the stadium car parking zone to cease the deep threats Chase, Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins.
Bengals operating backs Joe Mixon (7.8 YAC per reception) and Samaje Perine (8.4) usually leak out of the backfield for brief Burrow lobs when defenses are preoccupied elsewhere. Chase himself generally evades defenders after catching fast screens (16 damaged or eluded tackles in simply 12 video games) or threatens them with what appears like a deep route, then turns to snag a brief catch earlier than strolling via the open countryside as they stumble backward. All of these quick jabs inevitably set opponents up for a deep haymaker.
A passing recreation constructed round fast throws neutralizes the opponent’s cross rush: dangerous information for the Eagles’ protection, which led the league with 70 regular-season sacks and hopes to stress Purdy into making errors. A YAC-focused offense additionally forces defenders to make troublesome open-field tackles, spelling hassle for Kansas City, which missed 82 regular-season tackles, tied for sixth most in the N.F.L.
While the different remaining Super Bowl contenders have loved success after the catch this 12 months, Shanahan’s 49ers stay the specialists at forcing tiny cornerbacks to tangle with the likes of Samuel, making sluggish linebackers chase McCaffrey and Kittle and making certain different defenders do the issues they aren’t excellent at. If the 49ers lastly win a Super Bowl utilizing their YAC techniques, the message must be clear for the N.F.L.’s rebuilding franchises: Flood the subject with versatile ballhandlers, be inventive, and don’t be afraid to take the ball out of the quarterback’s fingers a bit extra usually.
Knowing the N.F.L., nevertheless, these franchises would extra probably come away from a 49ers championship pondering, “let’s do whatever it takes to find the next Brock Purdy.”
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