The Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in New Orleans managed to do something the San Francisco 49ers haven’t been able to do: they beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
It wasn’t just that Philadelphia won, it was that they put a beatdown on Kansas City thanks to a resounding victory in the trenches.
There’s no secret the 49ers need to revamp their defensive line, and that’s something they’ve consistently poured resources into during head coach Kyle Shanahan’s tenure at the helm. It would be a small surprise if they didn’t invest heavily in that position group in this year’s draft.
However, it’s the other side of the line that has gotten overlooked by Shanahan and the 49ers.
Not that they don’t believe in having quality offensive linemen, Shanahan just made it clear that he’d rather prioritize playmakers instead of the offensive front.
“I’ve heard the narrative that we’re ignoring the O-line and stuff,” Shanahan said on Tim Kawakami’s podcast, ‘The TK Show’ last summer. “If we felt the O-line was the best pick (in the first round) there’s no doubt that’s who we’d take, but there were some O-lineman there at the end of the first round that we feel has just as good of a chance as a guy at the end of the second round. One’s a higher prospect and might have a higher ceiling, but I’m not too concerned about the ceiling. I want to know if he’s gonna be a starting left tackle, a starting left guard, whatever – a starting NFL player. And if you are a starting NFL lineman, I think we can have a good team with you. Now, if we have a bunch of starting NFL lineman and there’s no one who can score points, you’re not gonna have that good of an offense.”
Philadelphia’s dominance of the Chiefs offensive line highlighted just how vital that position group is. The Eagles never sent a blitz and managed to pressure Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes on more than half of his dropbacks. The consensus best QB in the sport had nothing behind an offensive line that spent most of its pass blocking reps going backward.
To be clear, the Eagles defensive line was sensational, and the Chiefs offensive line had been fine for most of the year.
The issue is how easy it was for the best QB in the league and his head coach, Andy Reid, to get derailed behind a struggling offensive front. The number of playmakers a team has matters less when the quarterback is under constant duress.
It’s clear San Francisco needs to have at least some alteration to the way they approach the offensive line. Simply finding passable starters isn’t going to be enough to compete in a playoff game against a team with a dominant pass rush. The 49ers need to find higher-quality offensive linemen to make life easier for QB Brock Purdy. Finding the great playmakers is an easier task than winning with a cobbled together offensive line.
This offseason the San Francisco has to find a starting left guard. They need an upgrade at center, and could use an upgrade at right tackle if that player can flip over to the left side when Trent Williams retires.
Perhaps Shanahan and the 49ers don’t alter their team-building approach and we see another year of them using late-round picks and cheap free agents to try and fill the holes on the OL. They’ve had a lot of success that way, but getting over the hump to hoist a Lombardi Trophy may require a change in their thought-process. That already appeared to be the case, but Super Bowl LIX made it clear.