Kyle Shanahan explains 49ers rare strategy shift from Week 13 win

There was an unfamiliar sight for San Francisco 49ers fans Sunday in Cleveland.

The 49ers won the coin toss before the contest, which typically under head coach Kyle Shanahan means the team will defer its choice to receive the kickoff until the second half. Sunday they flipped the script and opted not to defer so they received the game's first offensive possession.

It stood to reason that with the heavy winds and inclement weather that the 49ers would want their defense on the field first against Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Shanahan on Monday in a conference call explained why he chose a different strategy.

"Just because of the wind factor," Shanahan said. "I wanted a chance to choose to have the wind at our back in the fourth quarter and that was the only way to get that done.”

So, the 49ers won the toss and instead of choosing to receive or defer, they chose to go into the wind first. That gave them an opportunity to have the ball going with the wind if the game came down to the final quarter.

"Yeah, that was solely just because I wanted to make sure, I mean, the way that wind is, it's hard to throw or kick for two quarters in that game," Shanahan said. "We wanted to make sure that if we needed to win it on a last second field goal or throw at the end the game, that we had that in the fourth quarter if we could.”

The good news for San Francisco is they played well enough that wind direction didn't matter much in the final frame. San Francisco took a narrow 10-8 lead into the half, and extended their lead to 17-8 going into the fourth quarter where they tacked on another touchdown and another field goal to secure their victory.

It's unlikely with two home games and a road game in a dome left that the 49ers will need to employ this strategy again any time soon. However, if they make the postseason and have to go on the road to Green Bay, Philadelphia or Chicago, we may see them do something similar then.

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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Kyle Shanahan: Why 49ers chose to receive opening kick vs. Browns