At the early age of 44, the San Francisco 49ers coach has established an offensive that teams from all around the league attempt to imitate, and his extensive coaching lineage makes him one of the most important personalities in the game.
After San Francisco blew two late leads to lose 25-22 in overtime to the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday’s Super Bowl match, he just doesn’t have a Super Bowl title.
How you lose doesn’t matter to me. It stings to lose Super Bowls, especially when you think you can win them, according to Shanahan. “I believe that every team in the NFL should suffer until the very end, with the exception of one.” Although we’ve come very near, we haven’t succeeded. We’re in pain at the moment.
This defeat comes after Shanahan’s 49ers threw away a 10-point lead against Kansas City in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl four years prior, and then suffered an even greater collapse in the 2016 season while he was the offensive coordinator. That game, the Falcons blew a 25-point lead and fell to New England 34-28 in overtime.
Given that the 49ers were the top team in the league for the majority of the season and were ready to give Shanahan his first title, this most recent one may be the hardest to accept.
“You never feel comfortable with a lead when you play against people like Tom Brady and Pat Mahomes,” Shanahan remarked. “Those two are the greatest players to have ever played the game.”
Shanahan became the first head coach in Super Bowl history to blow two double-digit leads, though, as the Niners blew a 10-point lead in the first half and then failed to hang on to two more three-point advantages in the closing minutes.
In the 2021 NFC title game against the Rams, his 49ers also squandered a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, tying him for the most blown double-digit leads by a coach in NFL history.
In the last 1:53 of regulation, Mahomes drove for a field goal that tied the score. Later, in overtime, when Shanahan chose to receive the ball first, Mahomes connected with Mecole Hardman for a touchdown throw.
On third-and-4 from the nine-yard line, Chris Jones forced Brock Purdy to throw an incomplete pass, which was all the Niners could muster in the form of a field goal by Jake Moody.
According to Shanahan, “it appeared that there was a protection bust up the middle.” We intended to travel to Jauan (Jennings). Jauan appeared to have slain him very decisively (en route). However, Chris Jones lost control in the middle. I believe an error was made. I’m not certain. It’s obvious that he’s difficult to block.
The defense for San Francisco was unable to stop Mahomes, which gave him the opportunity to use his legs to convert a fourth and a third down.
After fake across the formation in motion and reversing field, Mahomes then found Mecole Hardman wide open, sending the Niners home with a loss.
The 49ers, a dynasty team from the 1980s and 1990s, have now lost two Super Bowls in the last five seasons against Mahomes and the Chiefs. This means that the team has now gone 29 seasons without a championship.
Shanahan remarked, “It’s a part of life, it’s part of football, and it’s part of sports.” “I believed we exposed ourselves. I adore our group. We’ll bounce back and return stronger the next year.
Shanahan now has to aim to follow in the footsteps of his father, Mike, who went on to lose his first three Super Bowl visits while serving as an assistant in Denver before winning two as a Denver Broncos player in 1997–1998 and one as a 49ers coordinator in 1994.
