Play-action has long since been a foundational tool in Kyle Shanahan's play-calling arsenal, a critical part of his success in getting the best out of his quarterbacks.
Yet for the second successive year in a game against the Minnesota Vikings, the San Francisco 49ers head coach barely used it as part of his offensive gameplan.
In Sunday's 23-17 defeat to the Vikings, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had just three play-action dropbacks, the exact same number he had in the Niners' Week 7 loss to Minnesota last season. It is the lowest number of such dropbacks Purdy has had in his NFL career. He also only registered three play-action dropbacks in the 49ers' Week 15 win over the Arizona Cardinals last season.
The lack of play-action snaps is reflective of the defense the 49ers were facing, one that has now given them significant problems in back-to-back seasons.
Brian Flores' defense is both extremely aggressive in terms of the level of pressure he sends, and complex in how significantly the picture can change from pre-snap to post-snap.
Indeed, the Vikings' defensive approach consistently saw them drop into unexpected coverages from unconventional looks, leading Purdy to go out of his way to greet Flores after the game and praise his "crazy" scheme .
The speed and the extent to which Flores and the Vikings changed the picture will likely have been the primary factor in Shanahan's decision to all but abandon play-action.
With that club essentially removed from Shanahan's bag, the 49ers still moved the ball, racking up 399 yards of offense. Yet their failure to convert eight of their 10 third downs and 50 percent conversion rate on the Niners' four red zone series are indicative of the problems Flores was able to cause San Francisco, with Purdy committing two turnovers, as he did in the same matchup last year.
The problem for the 49ers is they will face another defensive coordinator with a similar proclivity for aggressiveness and disguise twice more this season in their divisional matchups with the Seattle Seahawks, who are now led by Mike MacDonald. When MacDonald was defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens in their Christmas Day matchup with the 49ers last season, Purdy was picked off four times.
There is also the small matter of a Super Bowl rematch with the Kansas City Chiefs and a defensive coordinator in Steve Spagnuolo who stymied the Niners in February and famously does an excellent job with his pressure packages.
Play-action has for so long been an 'easy button' for Shanahan and the 49ers, and they were theoretically running the ball well enough for it to be an option in Week 2. If that isn't going to be an answer against coordinators of Flores' ilk, then Shanahan and the 49ers need better ones than what they came up with on Sunday.
Related: Brock Purdy joins select group of quarterbacks with his performance in 49ers' Week 2 loss to Vikings
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