With the San Francisco 49ers returning to the Super Bowl for the second time in five seasons, there’s a lot of talk about “unfinished business” for coach Kyle Shanahan’s team. But let’s be honest: This isn’t just about “unfinished business” for Shanahan. It’s about something more. It’s about redemption. You see, when the 49ers play Super Bowl LVIII they’ll face Kansas City, and if that sounds familiar it should. Those two met in Super Bowl LIV, too, with the Chiefs winning 31-20 in a game that was far closer than the score reads. In fact, the 49ers should have won it … and would have had they not blown a 10-point lead with six-and-half-minutes left. And that’s where Shanahan comes in. He coached that team and failed to protect the lead because he failed to heed a lesson from a previous Super Bowl experience. That was Super Bowl LI when, as offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, he called the plays that ultimately led to their demise.
No need to regurgitate that game, just know that Atlanta led New England 28-3 late in the third quarter in a game they absolutely, positively could not lose … until they did … because they got greedy. Instead of closing out the game by running the ball, Shanahan chose to throw it … and suffered the consequences. Atlanta lost 34-28 in overtime in a historic collapse that still haunts the franchise. Three years later, Shanahan was back in the Super Bowl, this time as as head coach of the 49ers with that 10-point fourth-quarter lead in a game the 49ers dominated. But guess what? Déjà vu all over again. Instead of closing out the contest by trusting his running backs with the football, he had quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo throw it instead. And, just like that, it was Groundhog Day. “When you’re down by a couple of scores,” Kansas City coach Andy Reid said after his first Super Bowl victory, “you have to jump in it.” Understood. But Shanahan was UP by a couple of scores. Yet he jumped in it, too. Big mistake.
Now he has a chance to redeem himself, and here’s hoping he learned from his mistakes. Shanahan has a reputation as one of the game’s most innovative and imaginative play callers, and it’s well deserved. But he also has a reputation as the guy who couldn’t close out the biggest games of the season when he had the opportunity. And that’s deserved, too. Well, here’s his chance to change the narrative. “There’s been unfinished business for a while,” Shanahan said after Sunday’s 34-31 come-from-behind defeat of Detroit. “The type of guys that we have, we can’t wait to get to Vegas.” That’s the site of Super Bowl LVIII, and I can only imagine how his players feel. But you can imagine how Shanahan feels, too. Coaches are measured by Super Bowl rings, and his father, Mike, has three of them – two as head coach of the Denver Broncos and one as offensive coordinator of the 49ers. Kyle has none, but there’s another opportunity in two weeks.
