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Kyle Shanahan Didn’t Call TO After Correctly Identifying Bears' Chaos On Final Play

Stephen Douglas

Kyle Shanahan didn’t call timeout on the final play of the game.
Kyle Shanahan didn’t call timeout on the final play of the game. / Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
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The 49ers beat the Bears in a thrilling Sunday Night Football shootout in Week 16, 42-38. Brock Purdy and San Francisco took the lead with 2:15 remaining in the fourth quarter, which was more than enough time for Caleb Williams to march the Bears down the field with a chance to win it on the final play of the game.

The Bears almost scored on a hook-and-ladder on the next-to-last play of the game, but were stopped short. Without any timeouts they had to run one more play. The 49ers had a timeout, which Kyle Shanahan could have used to set up his defense, but instead he decided not to call it.

After the game Shanahan explained why he didn't call that final timeout and Bears coach Ben Johnson basically confirmed why his counterpart had made the right decision.

"We didn't quite get in the formation we wanted to," Johnson revealed. "It's on me. I didn't give him the call fast enough so he's trying to piecemeal it together. I gotta do a better job on that."

Shanahan also briefly explained his own thinking in the situation saying, "I thought about it. We wanted to see the look then they just went fast and let it ride."

Sometimes the best call is no call at all. Shanahan correctly assessed the situation and it showed immediately as Williams was left trying to make something happen on a broken play and his final pass fell to the ground in the end zone.

The 49ers will now take on the Seahawks on Saturday night with a shot at the NFC West and the No. 1 seed in the conference.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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