December 30, 2025 • 10 mins
Grant Cohn of Sports Illustrated in San Francisco joins Dick Fain and Hugh Millen to discuss the state of the 49ers heading into a massive game against the Seahawks, the injuries to the Niners right now, Kyle Shanahan’s year, Brock Purdy’s skills, and more.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
From the R and R Foundation Specialist Broadcast Studio. Now
back to Softie and Dick on your Home for the Huskies,
Kraken and The twelfth Man Sports Radio ninety three point
three kJ r R FM.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
So, Hugh Jackson and I have been in a discussion
about what type of forty nine or media member do
we want to come on to the show this week?
Do we want Banta Hill to come on and blow
smoke up the niners ass for fifteen minutes on the
radio show as much as we love Banta great, but
(00:39):
we know what we're gonna get from Manta, right? Or
do we want somebody that I don't know might throw
some barbes at Kyle Shanahan and Brock Pertial. Right, we do,
and we decided to go that route with our friend
Grant Cone from si at. Grant Cone Cohn on Twitter
joins us, the author of the article why the forty
nine ers will lose to the C week eighteen, and
(01:01):
we welcome him on see radio. How you doing, man, man,
it's the strangest thing.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
You guys keep inviting me back on the radio here
and meanwhile in the Bay no one ever invites me
on the radio. It's the strangest thing. I can't make
heads or tails of it.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
It does have anything to do with the fact that
you write articles entitled why the forty Nineers will lose
in the Seahawks in Week eighteen.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
They might have something to do with it.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
I guess I try to keep people on their toes
that throw curveballs. But I don't know. Maybe I'm seen
as negative.
Speaker 5 (01:31):
Well what is tell us why you think that that
your hometown forty nine ers are going to lose this Saturday.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Well, the thing is that the Seahawks have this thing
called a good defense, and the Niners really don't. They
have a very bad defense. They have the worst pass
rush in the league. They have eighteen facts this season,
that's by far the least. And they won Week one
against the Seahawks because their defense played so well. It
wasn't because Brock Purty played so well. He threw two picks,
he scored seventeen points. The Niners field the victory with
(02:02):
Nick Bosa, who's on IR and they also had Fred Warner.
So it seems to me that every team can score
twenty four to twenty seven at least against this defense.
Right now, Why should the Seahawks be any different.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Tell us about the injuries.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Now, we know obviously Fred Warrener, Nick Bosa, those guys,
But what about Christian.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
McCaffrey and Trent Williams.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
I understand Christian did not practice today, and then Trent
Williams got a hamstring and who how long do you
think he's gonna be out?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Well, Trent Williams is three hundred and thirty pounds, he's
thirty seven years old, and a hamstring injury usually takes
multiple weeks. I wouldn't expect him to play. Christian McCaffrey
spoke at his locker today. He said the injuries minor.
He always says that, But I would expect him to play.
He's about a few yards away from getting a thousand
receiving yards and he'll be damned if he's not going
to get that. They need him, so I would expect Yes, Kittle, Yes,
(02:50):
McCaffrey probably know.
Speaker 5 (02:51):
On Trent, Well, explain to us how the forty nine
ers have kind of kept pace in the manner that
they have. I mean, I think a casual fan could
look and say, maybe not a casual fan, but a
somewhat interested fan would say, well, Fred Warner. I know
he's going to the Hall of Fame. Nick Bosa might
go to the Hall of Fame. Trent Williams is for
(03:12):
sure going to the Hall of Fame. George Kittle, you know,
I mean that's not out of the question that he'd
be a Hall of Famer. Like, you're not just losing
these guys, Brandon Ayuk, you know, you're not just losing
not that he's a Hall of Famer, but you're losing
some of the not only core players, but guys that
are gonna be wearing yellow jackets. And yet the forty
nine ers keep winning, Like, how is that happening?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Well, I think that's why Kyle fans in the running
for Coach of the Year, Like this is probably the
best job he's ever done, better than the years that
he went to the Super Bowl, because he, I mean,
rock Perty went down. Usually when your quarterback is making
fifty million a year goes down, you just lose. And
the nine Ers were five and three without him, and
so they weathered the storm. And now he's healthy and
pretty much the entire offense is healthy minus Trent Williams.
(03:56):
Brandon a you ge isn't coming back, and this something
very interesting. Last you could argue on paper the Niners
were better than they are now, but they were six
and eleven. They had all this dev it drauma with Deebo,
Samuel and Brennan. I yuk. Those guys are gone and
they're like really a team again for the first time
since they lost the Super Bowl, and I think that's
a big reason why they've won six in a row.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Well, you mentioned when when Mac Jones came in, I
know what the national narrative was The national narrative as Wow,
I'd you pay brock Purty all that money when Mac
Jones can play as well as he wells he has?
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Was Was that also the narrative in the Bay Area
as well?
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Well? It was my narrative. I was pushing it hard.
Other people didn't want to hear it. Everyone loves Brock
Purty in the Bay Area. They think he's a combination
of Joe Montana and Steve Young with a little Jesus
Christ sprinkled in. I don't know. I think he's a
good quarterback, but I mean again, if Justin Herbert goes down,
the Chargers are gonna loose. And you can't necessarily say
that about the Niners, because as good as brock Purty is,
the Office is all about Kyle Sanahan.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
Yeah, and uh so what is the film just kind
of amplify your thoughts about brock Purty because it's it's
a pretty intriguing story there that you mentioned the fifty
million here, Shanahan, he had Trey Lance, a guy who
had as many skill set, you know, traits as a
guy could ever want, and at the top of the
first round, and yet he didn't have to see him
(05:13):
for long to say, no, he's not my guy. Mister
irrelevant is my guy? Maybe he just kind of peel
back the onion a little bit for us on why
he sees brock Purdy as his guy, because he's acknowledged
to be one of the best offensive minds. The idea
that he sees in Purdy the guy that he wants
(05:35):
must mean something.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
What does it mean?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Well, he may not be the perfect quarterback, but he's
by far the best quarterback Kyle Sanahan had in a
decade here. I mean, he's way better than Jimmy Garoppolo.
He's not Josh Allen necessarily, but they work really well together.
He's very sincere and he worked and smart and start working.
I mean, they're a good marriage. On top of that,
when rot when Kyle Sanahan's play doesn't work out the
(06:00):
way it's drawn up, too, we've seen brock Purty can
go off script and make things happen, and they don't
really need him to throw forty fifty yards down the field.
So it's a good marriage. But it doesn't necessarily mean
that rock Purty's like gonna beat you if you take
away Christian McCaffrey, and that's what the Seahawks did Week one.
Christian McCaffrey had no impact. The last two games, he's
run for about two hundred and fifty yards and coincidentally
(06:22):
or not, Rock Purty had accounted for ten touchdowns. So
it still comes back to stopping the run and making
the Niners one dimensional and proving that he's really worth
what they pay him.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Grant.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
You mentioned there that brock Purty is by far the
best quarterback Kyle Shanahan has had in the last decade.
The winningest quarterback in the last three years in the
NFL was on Kyle Shanahan's roster three year two years ago.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
His name is Sam Darnold. What happens to forty nine
or Nation.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
If brock Purty's backup comes in outplays him, beats the
guy that the Niners paid twenty million more a year
four instead the one seed.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
That would be pretty devastating from an emotional standpoint. I
don't see how the Niners could really overcome. I mean,
the way you put it, it was his backup. You
never really took him seriously, You never gave him a look.
You paid brock Party. This guy's way cheaper. And if
he beats brock Party and your team that everyone expects
to win, I mean, what did I say about you?
And the thing is he really could win because he's
(07:23):
just gonna be standing there. There's gonna be no pass rush.
He's got a hell of an arm. We got a
better on than Rock Party, and he's gonna have a
much easier assignment because he's not gonna be fair. He's
gonna be playing seven on seven football.
Speaker 5 (07:34):
Well, what about Robert Sola and his ability to manufacture
sacks and the absence of Bosa and the ability to
get after the quarterback. There's got to be something there.
What has been the discussion of in that regard about
Sall and trying to manufacture with scheme.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Well, sala is great and really what he's decided to
do is not to manufacture pass rush. He's trying his
best to not give up big plays and to force
you to get into the red zone where he can maybe,
you know, make a call that surprises you. I mean,
as bad as the Niners defense was against the Bears,
we all saw it. It was terrible. The final player
of the game he had the call that won it
and Ben Jonson did so he's great. He can he
(08:16):
can trick you, he can surprise you. But they're not
trying to really rush the quarterback and not bringing five
and six. They're content to sort of let you check
it down and hope that you make mistakes. And with
Sam Donald, i mean, he does lead the league in turnovers,
So you know, that's what they're going to try to
do again. They're going to try to prevent Jackson, Smith
and Jiggler from getting deep and scoring from far out
and make Sam Donald x choot in the red zone.
(08:37):
That's what they did the first time. That's what they're
gonna try to do again.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Last couple of minutes. The Grant Cone from s Side
down in the area. Grant Cone on Twitter co h
and grants. What's the vibe now from Niners fans? Obviously
it's probably different than it was two months ago when
they were scuffling a little bit. But now you're at
twelve and four, you have an opportunity to get the
number one seed with a with a victory. Do they
feel like it's all fixed now or do they still say, yeah,
(09:00):
we're just too banged up. Yeah we can beat the
Seahawks maybe, but we're not going to the super Bowl
because we just don't have enough pieces healthy.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
It's funny that was the attitude with Niner fans when
they lost to the Rams. They got trounced by the
Rams about a month and a half ago at home,
and Niner fans were like, see, that's why we didn't
make any trades at the trade deadline, because it's pointless
because this hopeless. We're not going anywhere. And now they've
won six in a row and Niner fans are talking
like seriously, like Brock Curry's the best quarterback in football
and that their offense is unstoppable, and that Kyle Sanahan
(09:30):
doesn't choke and that he's a Hall of Fame coach.
I don't know I mean it's like none of that
stuff happened, and all of a sudden they can do
no wrong. So it's gonna I mean, that's why this
game against the Seahawks is so interesting. You lose at
home to Sam Donold. It's very sobering.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Oh God, you are painting such an awesome picture. Thanks
for coming on, Gran, We appreciate your time.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
Man my question, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Oh man, See, that's the narrative view that we aren't
talking about here.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
That's a San Francisco near of.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
The You had Sam Darnold, and you even hear heard
Grant say Brock Purty is the best quarterback by far
that Kyle Shanahan's ever had. Well, he didn't allow Sam
Darnald even an opportunity to be a better quarterback than
Brock Purty.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
No, he only had one start as a forty nine er.
And I think that, uh, you, we'll obviously never know.
I wonder in his heart of hearts, he probably would
say he'll still keep Purty knowing what he knows. But
it's possible that he he looks and says, well, there's
a mistake. I let him get out the door.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
It's happened many many times before in the NFL. Hugh
Millen's with us until us seven o'clock tonight. We've got
John Wilner at five
From the R and R Foundation Specialist Broadcast Studio. Now
back to Softie and Dick on your Home for the Huskies,
Kraken and The twelfth Man Sports Radio ninety three point
three kJ r R FM.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
So, Hugh Jackson and I have been in a discussion
about what type of forty nine or media member do
we want to come on to the show this week?
Do we want Banta Hill to come on and blow
smoke up the niners ass for fifteen minutes on the
radio show as much as we love Banta great, but
(00:39):
we know what we're gonna get from Manta, right? Or
do we want somebody that I don't know might throw
some barbes at Kyle Shanahan and Brock Pertial. Right, we do,
and we decided to go that route with our friend
Grant Cone from si at. Grant Cone Cohn on Twitter
joins us, the author of the article why the forty
nine ers will lose to the C week eighteen, and
(01:01):
we welcome him on see radio. How you doing, man, man,
it's the strangest thing.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
You guys keep inviting me back on the radio here
and meanwhile in the Bay no one ever invites me
on the radio. It's the strangest thing. I can't make
heads or tails of it.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
It does have anything to do with the fact that
you write articles entitled why the forty Nineers will lose
in the Seahawks in Week eighteen.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
They might have something to do with it.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
I guess I try to keep people on their toes
that throw curveballs. But I don't know. Maybe I'm seen
as negative.
Speaker 5 (01:31):
Well what is tell us why you think that that
your hometown forty nine ers are going to lose this Saturday.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Well, the thing is that the Seahawks have this thing
called a good defense, and the Niners really don't. They
have a very bad defense. They have the worst pass
rush in the league. They have eighteen facts this season,
that's by far the least. And they won Week one
against the Seahawks because their defense played so well. It
wasn't because Brock Purty played so well. He threw two picks,
he scored seventeen points. The Niners field the victory with
(02:02):
Nick Bosa, who's on IR and they also had Fred Warner.
So it seems to me that every team can score
twenty four to twenty seven at least against this defense.
Right now, Why should the Seahawks be any different.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Tell us about the injuries.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Now, we know obviously Fred Warrener, Nick Bosa, those guys,
But what about Christian.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
McCaffrey and Trent Williams.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
I understand Christian did not practice today, and then Trent
Williams got a hamstring and who how long do you
think he's gonna be out?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Well, Trent Williams is three hundred and thirty pounds, he's
thirty seven years old, and a hamstring injury usually takes
multiple weeks. I wouldn't expect him to play. Christian McCaffrey
spoke at his locker today. He said the injuries minor.
He always says that, But I would expect him to play.
He's about a few yards away from getting a thousand
receiving yards and he'll be damned if he's not going
to get that. They need him, so I would expect Yes, Kittle, Yes,
(02:50):
McCaffrey probably know.
Speaker 5 (02:51):
On Trent, Well, explain to us how the forty nine
ers have kind of kept pace in the manner that
they have. I mean, I think a casual fan could
look and say, maybe not a casual fan, but a
somewhat interested fan would say, well, Fred Warner. I know
he's going to the Hall of Fame. Nick Bosa might
go to the Hall of Fame. Trent Williams is for
(03:12):
sure going to the Hall of Fame. George Kittle, you know,
I mean that's not out of the question that he'd
be a Hall of Famer. Like, you're not just losing
these guys, Brandon Ayuk, you know, you're not just losing
not that he's a Hall of Famer, but you're losing
some of the not only core players, but guys that
are gonna be wearing yellow jackets. And yet the forty
nine ers keep winning, Like, how is that happening?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Well, I think that's why Kyle fans in the running
for Coach of the Year, Like this is probably the
best job he's ever done, better than the years that
he went to the Super Bowl, because he, I mean,
rock Perty went down. Usually when your quarterback is making
fifty million a year goes down, you just lose. And
the nine Ers were five and three without him, and
so they weathered the storm. And now he's healthy and
pretty much the entire offense is healthy minus Trent Williams.
(03:56):
Brandon a you ge isn't coming back, and this something
very interesting. Last you could argue on paper the Niners
were better than they are now, but they were six
and eleven. They had all this dev it drauma with Deebo,
Samuel and Brennan. I yuk. Those guys are gone and
they're like really a team again for the first time
since they lost the Super Bowl, and I think that's
a big reason why they've won six in a row.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Well, you mentioned when when Mac Jones came in, I
know what the national narrative was The national narrative as Wow,
I'd you pay brock Purty all that money when Mac
Jones can play as well as he wells he has?
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Was Was that also the narrative in the Bay Area
as well?
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Well? It was my narrative. I was pushing it hard.
Other people didn't want to hear it. Everyone loves Brock
Purty in the Bay Area. They think he's a combination
of Joe Montana and Steve Young with a little Jesus
Christ sprinkled in. I don't know. I think he's a
good quarterback, but I mean again, if Justin Herbert goes down,
the Chargers are gonna loose. And you can't necessarily say
that about the Niners, because as good as brock Purty is,
the Office is all about Kyle Sanahan.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
Yeah, and uh so what is the film just kind
of amplify your thoughts about brock Purty because it's it's
a pretty intriguing story there that you mentioned the fifty
million here, Shanahan, he had Trey Lance, a guy who
had as many skill set, you know, traits as a
guy could ever want, and at the top of the
first round, and yet he didn't have to see him
(05:13):
for long to say, no, he's not my guy. Mister
irrelevant is my guy? Maybe he just kind of peel
back the onion a little bit for us on why
he sees brock Purdy as his guy, because he's acknowledged
to be one of the best offensive minds. The idea
that he sees in Purdy the guy that he wants
(05:35):
must mean something.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
What does it mean?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Well, he may not be the perfect quarterback, but he's
by far the best quarterback Kyle Sanahan had in a
decade here. I mean, he's way better than Jimmy Garoppolo.
He's not Josh Allen necessarily, but they work really well together.
He's very sincere and he worked and smart and start working.
I mean, they're a good marriage. On top of that,
when rot when Kyle Sanahan's play doesn't work out the
(06:00):
way it's drawn up, too, we've seen brock Purty can
go off script and make things happen, and they don't
really need him to throw forty fifty yards down the field.
So it's a good marriage. But it doesn't necessarily mean
that rock Purty's like gonna beat you if you take
away Christian McCaffrey, and that's what the Seahawks did Week one.
Christian McCaffrey had no impact. The last two games, he's
run for about two hundred and fifty yards and coincidentally
(06:22):
or not, Rock Purty had accounted for ten touchdowns. So
it still comes back to stopping the run and making
the Niners one dimensional and proving that he's really worth
what they pay him.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Grant.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
You mentioned there that brock Purty is by far the
best quarterback Kyle Shanahan has had in the last decade.
The winningest quarterback in the last three years in the
NFL was on Kyle Shanahan's roster three year two years ago.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
His name is Sam Darnold. What happens to forty nine
or Nation.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
If brock Purty's backup comes in outplays him, beats the
guy that the Niners paid twenty million more a year
four instead the one seed.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
That would be pretty devastating from an emotional standpoint. I
don't see how the Niners could really overcome. I mean,
the way you put it, it was his backup. You
never really took him seriously, You never gave him a look.
You paid brock Party. This guy's way cheaper. And if
he beats brock Party and your team that everyone expects
to win, I mean, what did I say about you?
And the thing is he really could win because he's
(07:23):
just gonna be standing there. There's gonna be no pass rush.
He's got a hell of an arm. We got a
better on than Rock Party, and he's gonna have a
much easier assignment because he's not gonna be fair. He's
gonna be playing seven on seven football.
Speaker 5 (07:34):
Well, what about Robert Sola and his ability to manufacture
sacks and the absence of Bosa and the ability to
get after the quarterback. There's got to be something there.
What has been the discussion of in that regard about
Sall and trying to manufacture with scheme.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Well, sala is great and really what he's decided to
do is not to manufacture pass rush. He's trying his
best to not give up big plays and to force
you to get into the red zone where he can maybe,
you know, make a call that surprises you. I mean,
as bad as the Niners defense was against the Bears,
we all saw it. It was terrible. The final player
of the game he had the call that won it
and Ben Jonson did so he's great. He can he
(08:16):
can trick you, he can surprise you. But they're not
trying to really rush the quarterback and not bringing five
and six. They're content to sort of let you check
it down and hope that you make mistakes. And with
Sam Donald, i mean, he does lead the league in turnovers,
So you know, that's what they're going to try to
do again. They're going to try to prevent Jackson, Smith
and Jiggler from getting deep and scoring from far out
and make Sam Donald x choot in the red zone.
(08:37):
That's what they did the first time. That's what they're
gonna try to do again.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Last couple of minutes. The Grant Cone from s Side
down in the area. Grant Cone on Twitter co h
and grants. What's the vibe now from Niners fans? Obviously
it's probably different than it was two months ago when
they were scuffling a little bit. But now you're at
twelve and four, you have an opportunity to get the
number one seed with a with a victory. Do they
feel like it's all fixed now or do they still say, yeah,
(09:00):
we're just too banged up. Yeah we can beat the
Seahawks maybe, but we're not going to the super Bowl
because we just don't have enough pieces healthy.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
It's funny that was the attitude with Niner fans when
they lost to the Rams. They got trounced by the
Rams about a month and a half ago at home,
and Niner fans were like, see, that's why we didn't
make any trades at the trade deadline, because it's pointless
because this hopeless. We're not going anywhere. And now they've
won six in a row and Niner fans are talking
like seriously, like Brock Curry's the best quarterback in football
and that their offense is unstoppable, and that Kyle Sanahan
(09:30):
doesn't choke and that he's a Hall of Fame coach.
I don't know I mean it's like none of that
stuff happened, and all of a sudden they can do
no wrong. So it's gonna I mean, that's why this
game against the Seahawks is so interesting. You lose at
home to Sam Donold. It's very sobering.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Oh God, you are painting such an awesome picture. Thanks
for coming on, Gran, We appreciate your time.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
Man my question, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Oh man, See, that's the narrative view that we aren't
talking about here.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
That's a San Francisco near of.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
The You had Sam Darnold, and you even hear heard
Grant say Brock Purty is the best quarterback by far
that Kyle Shanahan's ever had. Well, he didn't allow Sam
Darnald even an opportunity to be a better quarterback than
Brock Purty.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
No, he only had one start as a forty nine er.
And I think that, uh, you, we'll obviously never know.
I wonder in his heart of hearts, he probably would
say he'll still keep Purty knowing what he knows. But
it's possible that he he looks and says, well, there's
a mistake. I let him get out the door.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
It's happened many many times before in the NFL. Hugh
Millen's with us until us seven o'clock tonight. We've got
John Wilner at five
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