Kyle Shanahan's Nemesis
Kyle Shanahan’s nemesis isn’t a rival coach or a defensive coordinator. Even the smartest, most experienced defensive coaches in the world can’t consistently outwit the 49ers’ head coach.
The only person in the NFL who shuts down Shanahan’s offense in the biggest, most crucial moments is Shanahan.
Twice he has gone to the Super Bowl with elite offenses -- once in 2016 with the Falcons, and once in 2019 with the 49ers. Both times, he put his team in position to win the Super Bowl -- he built a 25-point lead in the third quarter with the Falcons, and a 10-point lead halfway through the fourth quarter with the 49ers.
And both times he lost, because he didn’t run the ball enough to use up the clock with a second-half lead. Bizarre, considering Shanahan builds his offense around the running game.
After both Super Bowl defeats, Shanahan told the media he stands by every one of his decisions and wouldn’t change them. Shanahan doesn’t seem to take criticism well or blame himself for losses, which is why he repeated the mistakes he made in his first Super Bowl appearance during his second appearance.
Shanahan undoubtedly is brilliant, one of the best play designers in the NFL, if not the best. But he may not perform his best under pressure. If he were a doctor, he might be more suited to sit in a lab and look through a magnifying glass than to perform open-heart surgery.
Of course, Shanahan is only 40 and has decades to change this narrative. Critics used to have a similar narrative about Chiefs head coach Andy Ried. They said he was clever, but couldn’t win the big game. Until he won the Super Bowl a few months ago. Now he’s the best offensive coach in the world.
But Reid’s issue always was the same: his running game. It wasn’t good enough. When he had leads in the second half of big games, he couldn’t run the ball and kill the clock, so he kept the other team in the game.
Reid’s running game still isn’t good. But his quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, is so phenomenal -- the Chiefs just blow teams away.
Shanahan is different. He coaches a run-first offense. The 49ers had the second-ranked run game in the NFL last season -- it was close to unstoppable. But he lost confidence in his running game when he should have trusted it to deliver him the Championship.
Either he overthought the situation or he panicked. Whatever the case, he beat himself.
When Shanahan kicks that habit, the 49ers could be unstoppable.
