Super Bowl: Kyle Shanahan, 49ers experience familiar gut-wrenching defeat
San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk walks off the field after the NFL Super Bowl 58 football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas. The Chiefs won 25-22 against the 49ers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Credit: AP/Eric Gay
LAS VEGAS — If double-digit leads in Super Bowls counted as wins, Kyle Shanahan already would be an all-time great coach. Instead, his current status is that of the guy who can’t get it done.
Shanahan let a third potential title slip away (as a head coach or coordinator) in the past eight Super Bowls.
His 49ers fell to Kansas City in overtime, 25-22, in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday night, further etching his name among the most hard-luck losers in the sport’s history and a unique two-time overtime loser in the big games.
“We all hurt,” Shanahan said after the game. “I mean, everyone knows how it feels. I don’t have a lot of words for it, but that’s how it goes when you put yourself out there.”
That Shanahan’s team lost a second time in the Super Bowl to Patrick Mahomes, the new standard-bearer for the league, carries little shame. That this one came with its own set of missteps, as most losses do, will make it sting for a while, though.
There was a blocked extra point that affected the math at the end of regulation and a series of injuries, including a freak Achilles tear for linebacker Dre Greenlaw while he simply was running onto the field to start a series. But the biggest regret might turn out to be the decision to receive the overtime kickoff.
Recent rule changes require both teams to possess the ball before any postseason game ends in overtime, and by taking it first and not deferring, San Francisco couldn’t know for sure what it needed to win the game . . . other than a defensive stop.
The 49ers wound up kicking a field goal on fourth-and-4 from the 9. Then Kansas City, knowing that a touchdown would result in a title, marched down the field and scored.
“This is something we talked about,” Shanahan said of the call. “None of us have a ton of experience of it, but we went through all the analytics and talked with those guys and we just thought it’d be better. We wanted the ball third [for what would have become sudden victory] if both teams matched and scored. We wanted to be the ones who had the chance to go in. When we got that field goal, we knew we had to hold them to at least a field goal. And if we did, then we thought it was in our hands after that.”
In Super Bowl LI, as offensive coordinator for the Falcons, Shanahan was part of a unit that blew a 28-3 lead against the Patriots before falling in the first overtime game in Super Bowl history. In Super Bowl LIV, his 49ers lost to Mahomes and Kansas City after leading 20-10 in the fourth quarter.
This time the 49ers were in control, up 10-0 in the second quarter and 19-16 with 1:53 left in regulation.
“Just gotta finish it,” said fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who was on the last 49ers team to lose to Kansas City. “It’s basically that. There’s nothing that can be said that’s gonna make me feel better right now. We’re men that sign up for this, and that’s what happens when you don’t win.”
The loss diminished what was shaping up to be a solid and mistake-free Super Bowl debut for second-year quarterback Brock Purdy (23-for-38, 255 yards, one TD), a standout performance by Jauan Jennings, who caught and threw a touchdown pass, and a 160-yard game (80 rushing, 80 receiving) from Christian McCaffrey.They were close to adding their names to the long list of Bay Area champs.
Instead, they will have to wait for another possible chance to overcome what has become a predictable narrative for the 49ers … and their coach.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
