Judging by how commentators constantly refer to him as a play-calling genius, you would think Kyle Shanahan is a great coach.
Going by how many TV commercials he’s on and how high profile he is you would think Baker Mayfield is a great quarterback.
Truth be told, neither Shanahan nor Mayfield are very good at their respective jobs. I find Shanahan to be the most overrated coach in the NFL and Mayfield to be a bottom-10 quarterback.
First Shanahan. He’s 31-37 in his four plus years coaching San Francisco. That ranks him in the bottom-10 in win percentage among active head coaches. Shanahan led the 49ers to one Super Bowl and had three disastrous seasons. The 49ers have failed to cover the last NINE times they’ve been a home favorite. San Francisco is 6-11 ATS in its last 17 games.
Maybe Shanahan is an above average play-caller. But you sure couldn’t tell that from his two Super Bowls, both losses.
Shanahan’s play-calling as the Falcons’ offensive coordinator during the final minutes of Super Bowl 51 six seasons ago could be considered the worst of all-time.
The Falcons had a 28-20 lead with 4:38 left and were in field goal range. But instead of running clock and then kicking a field goal to go up 11 and thus likely wrapping up the game, Shanahan got way too aggressive calling for passes. The Falcons ended up blowing a 25-point lead.
Shanahan choked again with questionable Super Bowl play-calling two seasons ago when the 49ers blew a double-digit lead to the Chiefs.
The 49ers have had more than their share of injuries last year and this season. Great coaches don’t use injuries as an excuse, though.
Shanahan and 49ers management made a gutsy decision paying a huge price to trade up to draft Trey Lance. Now with Jimmy Garoppolo dealing with a calf injury, the 49ers should turn the team over to Lance. If Shanahan really is so great, he should be able to coach Lance up. Lance has the mobility and “It” factor Garoppolo lacks. Let’s find out if Shanahan is more Bill Walsh, or more Adam Gase.
Mayfield was the No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2018 draft. He certainly is not a bust, but he’s been more mediocre than good. These are his passer ratings for the past three seasons: 2019: 31st. 2020: Tied for 15th. 2021: 23rd.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski doesn’t let Mayfield bomb away like other quarterbacks get to do. Cleveland is run-oriented. Mayfield, though, plays behind one of the best offensive lines in football and the top 1-2 running back combination in Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt.
Mayfield should be deadly in play-action and have an extremely high percentage with those factors in his favor. But he doesn’t. He’s just not that talented, or accurate. Mayfield’s performance this past Sunday against the Vikings was cringeworthy. He went 15-for-33 for 155 yards failing constantly to connect with a wide open Odell Beckham Jr.
Perhaps it was just a bad day for Mayfield. We all have them.
But whatever the circumstance, Mayfield fails to live up to the hype while being the endorsement king of the NFL doing commercials for Progressive and Nissan.
It seems Mayfield has more commercials than touchdowns.
I find it sickening to see this overrated mediocrity constantly on TV when there are so many other better quarterbacks.
