Former Rams offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur earned his NFL stripes under Kyle Shanahan. He thought he could use that to his advantage when standing on the sideline opposite Shanahan. He was wrong.

LaFleur was the quarterbacks coach in Washington all three years Shanahan was the offensive coordinator there. The two parted ways for one year before rejoining for two years in Atlanta. When Shanahan left Atlanta for the 49ers head coaching job, LaFleur went to the Rams to be the offensive coordinator under Sean McVay.

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LaFleur, now the Titans offensive coordinator, was answering a question about using enemy intel to gain an advantage in a game. He relayed his experience trying to give info about Shanahan’s offense to the Rams when they teams faced the 49ers last season.

He joked that spilling his intimate knowledge of the 49ers offense backfired on him according to ESPN’s Turron Davenport.

San Francisco racked up 73 points in two contests vs. Los Angeles last season. Their 39 and 34-point games were two of three highest totals the Rams allowed all last season. They were also two of San Francisco’s three highest-scoring games of the year.

This goes along with something Shanahan talked about when addressing his worry that former 49ers tight end Cole Hikutini might give out info about the 49ers offense to his new team, the Minnesota Vikings.

“I mean, it’s not like Cole knew our game plan or would have been able to memorize it,” the 49ers head coach said Wednesday in his press conference. “But, hopefully the stuff he tells them we’ve got double moves off all of that stuff. So, hopefully they listen to him.”

Football is a chess match that Shanahan has mastered on the offensive side. We’ll probably never know exactly what LaFleur told the Rams about Shanahan’s scheme, but it’s also not likely a coincidence the 49ers posted two of their three best offensive games against the Rams. It’s easy to see a scenario where LaFleur gave the Rams one idea, and Shanahan game planned to leverage that knowledge against them.

If that is indeed the case, perhaps the best thing for the 49ers on Sunday in Minnesota is that Hikutini spills everything he knows.