No one was more excited about the 49ers’ 38-10 dismantling of the Cardinals in Mexico City on Monday than San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan.
49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo put together a nearly flawless game, going 20 of 29 for 228 yards and four touchdowns. Elijah Mitchell, Deebo Samuel and the recently signed Christian McCaffrey combined for 135 of San Francisco’s 159 total rushing yards in the clash between the two NFC West opponents.
Shanahan’s coaching and the play from his team Monday caught the attention and admiration from ESPN’s Troy Aikman. After the game, Aikman joined SportsCenter for a segment with Scott Van Pelt to recap the game when he named Shanahan as the one coach he would choose if he had to hire an NFL head coach.
“If I was in a position to hire a head coach and I could hire anybody I wanted, Kyle Shanahan would be that guy,” Aikman said.
The three-time Super Bowl champion said the 49ers’ coach would be the perfect guy because of the franchise’s ability to dominate opponents using an “old-school style” running game in Shanahan’s scheme.
“They play a style of football that you just don’t see around the league,” Aikman said. “… I’m not surprised by that, knowing Kyle’s background with his dad and running the football.
But they are physical, and in a league today, where there's so much emphasis on players’ safety, and not much contact, not many padded practices during the week, they play the game as I used to know it. Not many teams can match that if they're not accustomed to seeing it. I like them a lot.”
With the win, the 49ers (6-4) took sole possession as the leader of the NFC West heading into Sunday’s game against the Saints. Since Shanahan became the 49ers head coach in 2017, San Francisco has made two appearances in the NFC Championship game that includes last year’s 20-17 loss to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Rams.
