The NFL is simple to describe: it’s a violent chess game. In chess, every single thing you do matters. So is in football. Hence, as the San Francisco 49ers prepare to face the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 4, one of the coordinators under Kyle Shanahan has given an insight on one of the biggest strengths of their opponents.
According to defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, the Jaguars are keen on figuring out what the other team will do. On the team’s transcript, Saleh said, “They’ve got legally, a really advanced signal stealing type system where they always find a way to put themselves in an advantageous situation.”
He then added, “They do a great job with it. They formation you to just try to find any nugget they can. So, we’ve got to be great with our signals and we’ve got to be great with our communication to combat some of the tells that we might give on the field. They’re almost elite in that regard.”
Liam Coen is slowly but surely imposing his style on the Jags
The Jaguars are 2-1 and two of those games have been good for the offense. In Week 1 they scored 26 against the Panthers and Week 2 they scored 27 albeit it was a losing effort against the Bengals. In Week 3 they won but it was a low-scoring affair against the tough Houston Texans defense. However, despite Trevor Lawrence not shining as the quarterback, the team has been able to collect points.
Coen was a great offensive coordinator and his strength was to feed eveyone on the offense. He’s done that already. The running game is working wonders with Travis Etienne and Bhayshul Tuten. While the passing game needs improvement, you see the signs that the playcalling is looking to feed all the weapons.
The 49ers defense has to adjust due to injuries
When healthy, Robert Saleh has one of the best defensive units in the NFL, but they just lost their best pass rusher in Nick Bosa due to a partial ACL tear that will require surgery.
Hence, Saleh will need to find ways to not only hide their signs from the Jags offense, but also find new ways to pressure Trevor Lawrence without Bosa. The defense will have to adjust massively in this game.