Roll The Tape: Will Mike Macdonald Again Get The Best Of Kyle Shanahan?

The Dallas Cowboys just saved their season.

The Chicago Bears are surviving without Caleb Williams.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are the biggest surprise in the AFC.

And the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks have picked up right they left off last year.

Each week, I dive into the All-22 coaches' film before offering a few insights to watch.

Here are four developments that could be long-term storylines involving some of the best teams and players in the NFL.

If you enjoy watching a chess match on artificial turf, you might want to tune in when the San Francisco 49ers take on the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday (4:25 p.m.

ET on FOX) for the battle of wits between Kyle Shanahan and Mike Macdonald.

As brilliant schemers with voluminous playbooks loaded with creative play designs from various personnel groupings, the whiteboard matchup will showcase the imagination and innovative tactics of two of the league’s best coaches.

The 46-year-old Shanahan has revolutionized football with variations of a zone-based scheme popularized by his legendary (and Super Bowl-winning) father, Mike.

The 49ers' run-heavy formations are built on off-tackle plays perfectly complemented by exotic pre-snap shifts, motions and condensed alignments.

With the constant movement and misdirection leaving defenders dazed and confused, San Francisco routinely generates explosive plays on blown assignments and misalignments.

The 39-year-old Macdonald, though, has often neutralized the Niners by featuring two-high safeties, light boxes and various sub-package personnel with five or six defensive backs on the field.

Additionally, Seattle varies its adjustments to motions to give the quarterbacks false keys on whether the coverage is man or zone based on defensive backs running across the formation.