Revisiting our 5 keys to the 49ers winning Super Bowl LIV

We made a list of five things the 49ers must accomplish during the playoffs in order to bring home the franchise’s sixth Lombardi Trophy in Miami next month.

Kyle Shanahan’s team is closer to achieving that goal after its convincing victory over the Vikings, 27-10, Saturday in the divisional round. With the Packers upcoming in the NFC title game, let’s revisit that list and see where things stand as the 49ers look to get back to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 2012 campaign.

1. AVOID A DROPOFF AT CENTER

The 49ers lost high-priced starting center Weston Richburg to a season-ending knee injury in December forcing them to give Ben Garland the starting job.

Garland, at times, appeared shaky this season, including when he replaced Richburg during a short stint in the first half of the November loss to the Seahawks when he surrendered a strip sack of Jimmy Garoppolo that went for a touchdown.

But Garland was excellent against the Vikings on Saturday as the 49ers churned out 47 rushing attempts while averaging 4.0 yards despite Minnesota stacking the box with eight and nine defenders throughout.

Garland was given the second-highest grade of any 49ers offensive player from scouting service Pro Football Focus. He was solid in the run game and didn’t allow a pressure in 21 pass blocking snaps. He does well to get to the second level of the defense and pick off linebackers and defensive backs on outside runs.

“Later in the game, they were starting to jaw at each other,” quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said. “We were bringing it on ‘em. They started to have some frustration.”

Shanahan should feel encouraged by the way Garland played against Minnesota. Though he’ll have a difficult test against Green Bay and talented defensive tackle Kenny Clark, who is one of the best interior pass rushers in the NFL. Clark recorded 6.0 sacks in each of the last two regular seasons.

2. PLAY WITH ‘LEGENDARY’ ENERGY

The 49ers did this with flying colors.

Nearly every player in the locker room Saturday noted how much of an emotional boost linebacker Kwon Alexander gave the team with his return off injured reserve from his torn pectoral. Alexander didn’t record an official statistic, but he played roughly half the snaps and made his presence felt.

Alexander played 25 snaps (54%) and was key in the team slowing down Vikings running back Dalvin Cook, who had just 26 yards on 15 touches. Alexander helped limit Cook by correctly reading screen passes and slowing Cook down enough to allow his teammates to rally and make the tackle.

“You can feel his speed out there,” Shanahan said. “... just making backs come to a complete stop and having to change their course where then the pursuit of the rest of our defense can get him. It ends up being a three-yard gain where it would have been eight. That all adds up to third down.”

The 49ers also got reinforcements back with defensive end Dee Ford and safety Jaquiski Tartt reintegration back into the fold. Tartt played with force around the line of scrimmage and wasn’t targeted in the passing game, which is a strong indicator he was holding his own in coverage.

Ford, meanwhile, provided his signature burst off the edge which allowed the rest of the defensive line to get favorable matchups on third down. The 49ers had six sacks, including one from Ford, which was their second highest total of the year.

3. JIMMY GAROPPOLO MUST JOIN THE CLUB

The 49ers are going to have to get a big game from their starting quarterback, at some point, if they’re going to win the Super Bowl.

But Saturday wasn’t the game.

Shanahan made it clear during the week the running game was going to be the emphasis — and it was likely the team that got to 30 rushes first would win the game. The 49ers ran the 37 times more than Minnesota. Shanahan was correct.

Garoppolo got off to a strong start by completing five passes on the opening touchdown drive that concluded with receiver Kendrick Bourne’s sixth touchdown catch of the year.

But Garoppolo also had a bad interception right before halftime that gave the ball back to Minnesota inside field goal range. The Vikings were limited to three points thanks to San Francisco’s defense. Shanahan blamed Garoppolo’s decision to try hitting rookie receiver Deebo Samuel on an in-cutting route for the pick.

“Just a bad decision,” Shanahan said. “It was zone coverage, we had no one to affect 54 (Eric Kendricks), their hook player who was just a little too deep. Jimmy thought he could get it over him. The guy made a good play and sometimes he’s just got to check down or go a different direction.”

The 49ers called just 21 dropbacks 47 runs. Garoppolo’s line: 11 of 19 (57.9%) for 131 yards and a 74.7 passer rating. His numbers have have looked better if not for a pair of drops from Bourne (who also made three spectacular catches) and one from tight end George Kittle on the first series.

San Francisco may need more from Garoppolo on Sunday against Aaron Rodgers, who will threaten the defense more effectively than Kirk Cousins. Garoppolo the last time these two teams met had one of the most efficient games of the season. He threw for 254 yards on 14 of 20 completions (70% while averaging 12.7 yards per attempt) with two touchdowns.

4. MAKE RED ZONE TRIPS COUNT

The 49ers went 3 of 5 in the red zone on Saturday, which was good enough, but not perfect. They struggled in that area during the regular season by converting just over 53% of their attempts.

The running game was good enough to take the pressure off Garoppolo inside the 20 on Saturday. Though Shanahan had a questionable string of play calls at the end of the third quarter and early in the fourth after the Vikings gave the 49ers a gift with their muffed punt turnover.

Shanahan dialed up a swing pass behind the line of scrimmage to Kittle in which he was gang tackled well short of goal line. Moments later, Shanahan tried a shovel pass to Kittle out of a read-option look, which Shanahan has run to varying success throughout his three seasons.

What Shanahan didn’t do was try any passes into the end zone. We’re picking nits here, obviously, because the game was in hand thanks to the defense’s dominance.

5. ADJUST WHEN GEORGE KITTLE IS TAKEN AWAY

We knew the Vikings were one of the best teams in the NFL at defending tight ends in the passing game. After all, Harrison Smith is one of the best strong safeties in the league and free safety Anthony Harris has turned into a star since the end of last season.

It was clear the 49ers were going to have to find ways to move the ball without having Kittle roam free for some of the massive gains he’s been accustomed to over the past two seasons. They did that by getting Emmanuel Sanders involved on the first series with back-to-back catches, including the longest pass of the day that went for 22 yards and helped set up the opening touchdown.

Additionally, Samuel proved to be a valuable target, getting 42 yards on three catches that all went for first downs. He bowled over defenders on two of them, including Xavier Rhodes near the goal line that set up the first of Tevin Coleman’s two touchdowns.

Kittle had just three catches for 16 yards, his fewest since Week 7 of his rookie season. But he made his presence felt with his blocking in the running game.

“Playing against six techniques with the linebackers on the inside, it’s pretty easy to get those combo blocks up to them,” Kittle said afterwards. “We dominated the edges today. It was a great day to run the football.”

This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Revisiting our 5 keys to the 49ers winning Super Bowl LIV."