One of the biggest challenges the 49ers face Sunday is figuring out how to slow down star Cowboys defender Micah Parsons.
Parsons has been a terror since joining the league, earning First Team All-Pro selections in each of his first two NFL seasons.
During a recent interview on KNBR's '"Tolbert & Copes," 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan detailed the issues that come with game planning for a player like Parsons.
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"It's not hard to locate him because we all know his number, and we know who that guy is," Shanahan said. "We know exactly where he is. The hard thing is, you want to make sure really good players don't mess the game up. ... But it's really hard to put together a schematic game plan when you don't know where he is going to be until you break the huddle. ...
"If you try to cover everything, your quarterback and your offense are going to be frozen because you're going to have to change every single play every single time, which then, no one is coming off the ball and really playing good football. So, there's an element of how you design something to make it tougher for that guy and to help our guys not have to be in too many positions where they're just completely on their own having to deal with a player like that, but you've also got to realize that it's going to happen, and when he does win his, you've got to make sure it's not a turnover; you've got to make sure that worst case scenario it is just a sack.
"You've got to protect that ball, and that's also why you've got to be balanced and do a lot of things to not allow him to tee off, because when he tees off, he's tough to deal with. … They all can rush the passer, and they're all moving, but 11 [Parsons] is definitely the one you've got to know where he is on every play."
Quarterback Brock Purdy also echoed there is an extra level of attentiveness required when facing a player with Parsons' abilities.
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"Yeah, obviously, I think he's a game-changer of a player," Purdy told reporters Thursday. "So, that's with every team that we go against, who are the guys that can change a game in one play, one snap. So, obviously, just always having my antenna up where he's at, where he is lined up. It was the same thing in the playoff game last year. It'll be the same thing this Sunday. But they also have really good players everywhere else, too. So, it's just being in tune and on point every snap before I snap the ball."
Offensive line coach and run game coordinator Chris Foerster was asked about the effectiveness of running right at Parsons as a means to combat his game-wrecking abilities. Foerster detailed there is no perfect science to game plan for a player of Parsons' caliber.
"Well, yeah, I mean, you can run at him," Foerster said. "He's a good player. We tried to run at him, and he beats blockers and makes tackles. And you can run away from him, he is going to run really, really fast and catch up to you when you run away from him. There's a lot of different things you can do. You just have to make sure you account for him like we have every other good player we play against, and he's a great player. These other great players, you just to have a plan as to how you're going to deal with him. You can't say every single play you run away, every single play you run at him, that wears itself out as well.
"There has to be a balance that you have to decide what kind of plays you run at him, what kind of plays you don't run at him, and how he defends things, what position he's playing — they move him all over the place. So, the position matters too. You think, oh, we're going to run this play at Micah Parsons, take advantage of X, Y, Z, and then, oh crap, he's lined up at the three-technique, or he is lined up over the center, and you're like, oh, well so much for that plan. So, you just have to have a well-balanced plan to take care of a great player. And that's what we'll hope to try to do it. It's really hard because he's a great one."
Parsons has finished as the runner-up in NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting in back-to-back seasons, and is a strong contender for the award again this season after a strong start.
Through four games, Parsons has registered four sacks with an eye-popping 24-percent pressure rate, per Pro Football Focus. On Sunday, the 49ers hope to slow him down.
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