Dominate the Super Bowl

2019 NFL season, National Conference finals, final score, "20:37".

San Francisco 49ers defeated the Green Bay Packers convincingly. Though Lafleur and Rodgers tried their best to counterattack and turn the tide, Shanahan and his team withstood the impact, undisputedly standing firm at the pinnacle of the League, proving their capability and talent.

Thus, when people discuss the Super Bowl showdown, the San Francisco 49ers are indeed the best choice to challenge the Chieftain's undefeated season.

However, that's not the whole story.

In football, you can't just look at the score, you should also look at the process and the details.

For instance, the quarterback.

Jimmy Garoppolo, 8 passes, 6 completions, 77 passing yards.

No touchdowns, no interceptions, invisible like a ghost throughout the game.

Yes, the statistics are not wrong. Garoppolo made only eight pass attempts throughout the game, rendered almost useless in a 2019 NFL season where passing is king and quarterbacks stand under the spotlight, making this data surprisingly unbelievable and even shocking.

Of course, it's not a pleasant "shock".

It brings to mind the Miami Dolphins of the seventies, a half-century ago, when the Dolphins entered the Super Bowl three consecutive years, winning two championship trophies, including a miraculous undefeated season that remains unmatched in the NFL—

Despite the regular season comprising only fourteen games back then.

At that time, the Miami Dolphins relied on a varied ground attack and strong defense to carry the heavy burden of the game, with the quarterback acting merely as an optional voice tool, as it was an era dominated by ground offense and running backs serving as the cornerstone of team building.

The key point is that, half a century apart, today's League is vastly different, no longer resembling the era of Miami Dolphins' reign.

Yet Shanahan did it. The San Francisco 49ers did it, recreating the Miami Dolphins' glory in the 2019 season, demonstrating the power of ground offense.

When Garoppolo completely became a decorative vase, the San Francisco 49ers' ground game showcased the football style of a half-century ago.

Strong. Heavy. Varied.

Raheem Mostert, 29 carries, 220 yards of ground advancement, 4 touchdowns.

Crazy!

Bear in mind, for running backs, a hundred yards in a game is already a top performance. Players like Li Wei and Henry, only on rare occasions might deliver a two-hundred-yard game, extremely infrequent.

But who is Mostert?

Undrafted rookie of 2015, changed six teams in the first two years of his professional career, unable to find a position even in the practice squad. It wasn't until the San Francisco 49ers that he grudgingly found a spot in the Professional League, yet remained obscure in the past two years with no acclaim, always a rotation player.

Then, boom!

220 yards, 4 touchdowns, an absolutely top-tier performance, throwing the Green Bay Packers into disarray and helplessness.

In fact, the San Francisco 49ers' ground game was far more potent.

In two playoff games, a total of 471 yards of ground advancement, six touchdowns, averaging 5.29 yards per carry — nearly on par with Li Wei's advancement efficiency.

This is what top-tier ground offense in the League looks like.

Looking back at the regular season, the San Francisco 49ers boasted the second-highest ground advancement yards in the League, the most rushing touchdowns, and the highest average advancement yards.

Formidable!

For the past three seasons, the Chieftains leveraged Li Wei's presence to consistently emphasize ground attack layout; but as known, Reed remains a passing coach at his core, a master of quarterback development, with his strategies and tactics forming merely a balance between passing and rushing.

Under Reed, the ground attack is the cornerstone for establishing passing offense. This season, even Li Wei's passing abilities have been tapped by Reed.

Clearly, the Chieftains remain a traditional West Coast offensive-system team, primarily focused on passing.

Now, Shanahan too is a passing coach, yet this young man exhibits the boldness and daring spirit of his age, overturning his habits and tendencies. Beyond continuous innovation in passing tactics, he shines brightly with retro ground offense in the playoffs, accomplishing the daring ventures Reed dared not attempt.

Without exaggeration, San Francisco 49ers' ground game, not only capable of challenging the Chieftains, might even surpass them.

Under the fierce cover of ground offense, Garoppolo barely had the chance to showcase.

In the divisional match, Garoppolo had only 19 pass attempts, unexpectedly, during the conference finals, only eight passes.

In the 2017 season, everyone mocked the Jacksonville Jaguars' monotonous offensive tactics: running, running, passing, always the same third gear offensive strategy, leading opponents to see through it, causing even their own players to ridicule.

Who would have thought, in the 2019 season, the San Francisco 49ers would execute a running, running, running third gear offensive strategy?

Moreover, the San Francisco 49ers actually won?

Of course, winning is a good thing, worth celebrating. In people's eyes, winning is good, why care about the details? Right now, focus should be on the result, no need to concern with the process.

But the crux is, Garoppolo holds the team's highest salary, an annual salary of 27.5 million US dollars, with a guaranteed amount as high as 90 million dollars, yet he turns into a vase during the playoffs stage?

Is this really okay?

Earlier in the regular season, the San Francisco 49ers lost to the Seattle Seahawks in overtime, breaking the undefeated golden body of the season, prompting doubts about Garoppolo's performance, making him the target of public criticism. Professionals expressed that with such performances entering playoffs, the San Francisco 49ers are unlikely to defeat the Chieftains.

In that match, Garoppolo's passing statistics, 46 passes, 24 completions, 248 yards, one touchdown, one interception,

And now, reflecting on two playoff games, Garoppolo made a total of twenty-seven pass attempts, passing for 208 yards, one touchdown, one interception.

This data, even makes one unsure where to begin criticizing.

Look at Rodgers and Mahomes, sometimes making over twenty pass attempts in a single quarter, with a single match passing yards below 300 becoming a focal point of media scrutiny repeatedly, and then looking at Garoppolo's data, comparison sure kills you.

Don't even compare with other quarterbacks, contrasting with Garoppolo's own data in the Seattle Seahawks game, his performance over two playoff matches remains eyebrow-raising, it's not merely a matter of performance, but lack of presence —

When the offensive group's other players are all fighting hard, what about Garoppolo, having tea?

Precisely due to this, the bustling critiques pour all-around toward Garoppolo.

Moreover, it's not just the fans this time, even professionals cannot hold it, placing this issue seriously on the table for formal discussion.

With a round-table meeting stance, unfolding unprecedented formality.

Bustling, vociferous, capturing full attention, even momentarily overshadowing the outcome of the conference finals, this time, even Li Wei concedes.

"Master of Lying Win", "Golden Boy Victory Method", these keywords erupt like a sweeping flood, compellingly breaking through in an implausible manner!

This is perhaps something nobody anticipated.