Coming into Week 13’s marquee game between the Miami Dolphins and the San Francisco 49ers, only the Kansas City Chiefs (276) had more passing attempts with pre-snap motion than the Dolphins’ 274, so 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who served as Dolphins’ head coach Mike McDaniel’s mentor once upon a time, had to expect pre-snap trickery from his former protégé. McDaniel worked with Shanahan in Houston, Washington, Cleveland, Atlanta, and San Francisco, so the familiarity is evident.
How it came about on the first play of the game was both expected and original. Some people at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA were probably still finding their seats when Tua Tagovailoa burned San Francisco’s top-rated defense with a 75-yard touchdown pass to receiver Trent Sherfield — who spent the 2021 season with the 49ers.
