The 49ers have a play to tear out of their playbook. In fact, they should probably also burn that play and then put it on a one-way train into the middle of the sun.
On fourth-and-1 late in the third quarter, the 49ers had the ball at their own 39 trailing by a touchdown. They lined up in shotgun with JaMycal Hasty flanking Jimmy Garoppolo to the right. Wide receiver Trent Sherfield was lined up out wide at the top of the formation, with WRs Jauan Jennings and Brandon Aiyuk split out to the bottom. Ross Dwelley went in motion from left to right, and the play was a disaster from there.
Garoppolo faked a handoff to Hasty, kept the ball and ran for a loss of two. It wound up not counting because of a false start on center Alex Mack. While the result was bad, even worse was a name missing from the list above. Tight end George Kittle was not on the field for one of the most important snaps of the game to that point. It was one of four offensive snaps Kittle didn’t play the entire afternoon.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan offered an explanation before Wednesday’s practice.
“Because we don’t want him for that play,” Shanahan said. “It’s schematic stuff, but it has to do with what we think people are best at.”
Whichever play is set up in a way that Kittle isn’t a good enough player and Dwelley is needs to be eliminated from the playbook posthaste. Shanahan on Monday indicated Garoppolo was not supposed to wind up keeping the ball after faking to Hasty given how the defense lined up, but the result matters less than the notion that Kittle couldn’t be on the field for that particular play.
If he was hurt or in some way unable to be on the field, that’s one thing. But Dwelley under no circumstances can be the best option for a 49ers club carrying the NFL’s highest-paid tight end. That play should probably not be called anymore, especially if it means leaving Kittle off the field for a crucial play late in a one-score game.
