Falcons Ex Kyle Shanahan Misses Shot at Redemption In Super Bowl LVIII Loss vs. Chiefs
San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan has fallen short once again after his team lost 25-22 in Super Bowl LVIII to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night.
Shanahan's first taste of the Super Bowl spotlight came as the Atlanta Falcons' offensive coordinator in Super Bowl LI against the New England Patriots. Everyone knows the story from there: the Falcons jump out to a massive 28-3 lead only for Shanahan's offense to fall apart as the Patriots Empire struck back to win in overtime, completing the most-infamous collapse in NFL history.
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That was Shanahan's final game in Atlanta, and the way he went out still leaves a bitter taste in some Falcons fans' mouths. It didn't take long for him to get back to the game's biggest stage, though, as just three years later, his 49ers took on the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV. In a sense of Déjà vu, Shanahan's team led 20-10 midway through the fourth quarter, only for the Chiefs to score 21 unanswered points in a 49ers collapse.
Then on Sunday, Shanahan's 49ers held a 10-0 lead going into the final seconds of the first half, only to surrender another double-digit advantage in the second half and overtime to the Chiefs.
"I deal with it the same way if we win," Shanahan said earlier this week, per ESPN. "I celebrate with our team. I celebrate with my family and I move on with the rest of my life, which is being a father or son and coaching and working and doing all that. Narrative, good or bad, is just a narrative ... I just don't want regrets. I just want to do everything that makes sense to myself, that makes sense for our team. And when you do that, that's what I have found.
"No matter how hard something is or good something is, you always keep perspective of what it really is. If you want your perspective to be someone else's narrative, good luck being happy in life. Or successful."
If there was ever a chance for Shanahan to prove that narrative wrong, this was it, but he still remains without a Super Bowl win of his own.
Perhaps one day, Shanahan will finally get the monkey off his back that he picked up while with the Falcons. However, that day wasn't Sunday, and won't come for at least one more year.
