49ers' Kyle Shanahan Praised Seahawks' Brian Fleury, Then Gave Him a Headache

Brian Fleury got a glowing review from his former boss on the Wednesday before Week 5's kickoff.

Four days later, Kyle Shanahan's San Francisco 49ers held the Seattle Seahawks to 251 yards, sacked Sam Darnold five times and left Lumen Field with a 32–29 win.

Fleury probably liked Wednesday better.

"I think he's taken over where Klint left off. Just running a similar scheme, doing a really good job," Shanahan said of his former assistant ahead of Sunday's matchup.

He also praised Fleury's handling of Seattle's depleted backfield and his ability to get Jaxon Smith-Njigba involved.

That last part held up. Smith-Njigba finished with six receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown, accounting for more than half of Darnold's 195 passing yards.

No complaints about his afternoon.

Fleury arrived in Seattle following Klint Kubiak's departure for the Las Vegas Raiders, tasked with maintaining much of the offense that helped deliver February's Super Bowl championship.

He spent seven seasons under Shanahan and already knew Darnold from their time together in San Francisco. The Seahawks had their reasons for keeping things familiar — especially after finishing third in scoring last season.

San Francisco linebacker Fred Warner had already offered some insight into what that familiarity meant for opposing defenses.

In September, Warner discussed how the 49ers prepare for the Shanahan-style offenses now employed by all three of their NFC West rivals.

"We've gone against that for so long, all training camp," Warner said of the movement and formations associated with those systems.

Seattle was hardly introducing something revolutionary.

Third down has been a problem for Fleury since the season began … and Sunday offered little relief.

Entering Week 5, the Seahawks ranked 31st in third-down conversion rate at 31.1 percent, facing an average distance of 7.9 yards to move the chains.

As Field Gulls reported, Seattle was running the ball at the league's fifth-highest rate on early downs, then switching to three-receiver personnel on roughly 80 percent of third downs.

Defenses had blitzed Darnold on nearly 60 percent of those third-down dropbacks.

There wasn't much incentive to stop.

Shanahan's defense had little trouble taking advantage of those obvious passing situations.

The Seahawks converted three of 12 third downs and surrendered five sacks despite San Francisco playing without Nick Bosa. Dre Greenlaw's second-quarter ejection removed another established defender, too.

Meanwhile, Jason Myers kicked five field goals, accounting for 15 of Seattle's 29 points. Both Seahawks touchdowns followed 49ers turnovers — with those possessions beginning at the San Francisco 24- and 23-yard lines.

Twenty-nine points sounds a lot better when you leave out how much help Seattle needed to get there.

Darnold threw two interceptions, while Emanuel Wilson and George Holani each lost a fumble. Injuries have also left Fleury scrambling for answers in the backfield.

But the third-down problems existed before Sunday's loss, and Seattle has enough talent to expect some progress. Darnold, Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp should give Fleury plenty of ways to keep defenses guessing.

Right now ... opposing coordinators appear comfortable with what they're seeing … especially when third down arrives.

Seattle hired Fleury for everything he learned during seven seasons in San Francisco.

Sunday was a reminder that the 49ers spent those same seven years learning a few things, too.