Kyle Shanahan Is Not to Blame for the San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl LVII Loss (2024)

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco 49ers are the most misunderstood, incorrectly perceived organization in the NFL. Every season, I hear the national media’s skepticism about their quarterback- Brock Purdy in this case-talk about everything Kyle Shanahan isn’t or hasn’t accomplished as a head coach, or whatever else is “wrong” with the 49ers and why they won’t win the NFC or aren’t a Super Bowl contender.

All of this from the national media is about as dizzying and head-spinning as Kyle Shanahan’s offensive scheme. But that’s where I differ. Kyle Shanahan is a masterful play caller, second best in my play caller rankings behind only Andy Reid. The offense Shanahan runs in San Francisco is the most aesthetically pleasing to watch in the NFL. The level of details and execution on the plays the 49ers offense runs is incredible. They have the most talented offense in the NFL, and that’s because every player has mastered the details of Shanahan’s offense. Of course Brock Purdy can play quarterback for Kyle Shanahan. It’s because he is humble, hard-working and attentive to the details of Shanahan’s offense. Not every quarterback can be like that.

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The 49ers identity is on defense. Even as Shanahan’s offenses have become one of the best in the NFL, the 49ers defense has always been the team’s strength in Shanahan’s seven seasons as head coach. On their two Super Bowl teams, the 49ers had two all pro players in 2019 and three this past season. In Super Bowl LIV, the 49ers led the Chiefs 20-10 midway through the fourth quarter. Their defense, which ranked eighth in scoring and second in yards allowed per game in 2019, gave up 21 points in the fourth quarter. This past February, the 49ers defense had not one, not two but three chances to close out Super Bowl LVIII after they took the lead in the 4th quarter and overtime. But the 49ers defense, one that ranked third in scoring and eighth in yards allowed per game, couldn’t close out the Chiefs.

When is the national media going to realize that the 49ers defense, and not Shanahan’s offense, is to blame for blowing double-digit leads in Super Bowls LIV and LVIII? In addition, don’t forget the 49ers led the Rams 17-7 in the NFC Championship in 2021 before allowing the Rams to score 13 points in the fourth quarter for a 20-17 win. All I heard after that game was how Shanahan, yet again, had let a double-digit lead in a Championship game slip away. I didn’t hear anything about how the 49ers defense, which ranked ninth in scoring and third in yards allowed per game in 2021, gave up 13 points in the 4th quarter. Not to mention, an interception that was blatantly dropped in that fourth quarter.

This past Super Bowl was telling. How does a defense with Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead, Fred Warner, Charvarius Ward not find a way, on three separate occasions, to close out the Chiefs? And for the criticism directed towards Kyle Shanahan for firing defensive coordinator Steve Wilks after Super Bowl LVIII; he is justified for having done so.

The 49ers defense was leaking oil leading up to Super Bowl LVIII. Consider that the 49ers defense held their opponents to less than 300 yards in six of their first 11 games. But in their final six regular-season games, two playoff games and Super Bowl LVIII, the 49ers held their opponents to under 300 yards in just two of them. That includes allowing 442 and 445 yards to the Lions and Chiefs in the NFC Championship and Super Bowl LVIII, respectively. In addition, the 49ers also allowed 436 yards to the Cardinals- the Cardinals- in Week 15. The 49ers defense allowed 400 or more yards in five games last season, two of them coming in their two biggest games of the season. Including the Playoffs, the 49ers allowed 100 or more rushing yards in six of their final seven games. That stretch includes 234 rushing yards allowed to the Cardinals, who finished 4-13 in 2023, and 182 to the Lions in the NFC Championship. Does the national media still think Kyle Shanahan is to blame for the 49ers losing Super Bowl LVIII?

Even in 2019, the 49ers defense was leaking oil leading up to Super Bowl LIV. After allowing just 198 yards to the Packers in Week 12, the 49ers defense allowed 300 or more yards in five of their last eight games including the Playoffs. That stretch includes 465 yards allowed to the Saints, 395 yards allowed to the Rams and 397 yards allowed to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV. Does the national media still think Kyle Shanahan is to blame for the 49ers losing Super Bowl LIV?

Speaking of Shanahan, let’s look at his aesthetically pleasing offense. We’ll start with last year’s offense, which ranked third in scoring and second in yards per game. Including the Playoffs, the 49ers gained 400 or more yards 11 times. Their highest total was 527 yards in Week 14 against Seattle. The 49ers only gained fewer than 300 yards one time in 2023, and that was when they gained just 215 yards against the Browns, whose led the NFL in yards allowed per game, in Week 6. In addition, the 49ers only had one game where they rushed for fewer than 100 yards.

And Brock Purdy-who the national media will tell you is a product of Shanahan’s system and that’s the reason he is good-had only one game where he threw for less than 200 yards in 2023. In case you’re wondering, Purdy had five 300-yard passing games in 2023. He had five games with three or more touchdown passes and 12 games without an interception. 10 of his 16 regular-season starts saw Purdy complete at least 70% of his passes. After looking at the seasons of the other three quarterbacks to play on Conference Championship Sunday in 2023- Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Jared Goff- I would put Purdy’s season up against any of them.

Let’s look at the 49ers offense in 2019. They ranked second in scoring and fourth in yards per game. The 49ers had six games where they put up 400 or more yards and two games where they put up 500 or more yards. Their highest total was 571 yards against the Bengals in Week 2. There were only two games where the 49ers gained fewer than 300 yards, four games where they rushed for fewer than 100 yards and four games where they rushed for 200 or more yards. Their quarterback was Jimmy Garoppolo, and he had a really good season. He had three games with 300 or more passing yards, four games with three or more touchdowns and had 11 games where he completed 70 percent of his passes.

The national media will continue to tell you that Kyle Shanahan is to blame for the 49ers losing Super Bowl LVIII. I disagree. The 49ers had three consecutive scoring drives in the fourth quarter and overtime to give their defense, which had three all pros and four pro bowlers in 2023, three chances to close out the Chiefs. Their defense couldn’t do it, and the Chiefs’ offense in 2023 wasn’t nearly as good as the one the 49ers faced in Super Bowl LIV. And the 49ers defense in that Super Bowl gave up 21 points in the fourth quarter to the Chiefs. Yet, the national media will tell you Kyle Shanahan is to blame for the loss in Super Bowl LIV in addition to Super Bowl LVIII.

I’m not going to excuse the 49ers for not knowing the new overtime rules in the Playoffs and the Super Bowl. They should have known them. But I agree with their decision to take the ball first. Their logic was that if they got the ball third, they were going to win. They trusted their defense to get a stop, or at least hold Kansas City to a field goal, after they got the ball first and scored.

That way if the game continued after both teams possessed the ball, the 49ers would have the ball next. But their defense couldn’t get that stop. The national media isn’t focusing on that. However I am. Kyle Shanahan is not to blame for the 49ers losing Super Bowl LVIII.

Does the national media remember the gutsy call he made to go for it on 4th&3 from the Kansas City 15-yard line with 12:46 to play in the 4th quarter? San Francisco was down 13-10 at the time, meaning a field goal would have tied the game. But the 49ers converted the fourth down and then scored a touchdown to take a 16-13 lead. You don’t hear about that part of Super Bowl LVIII. And you don’t hear about the 49ers defense not being able to stop the Chiefs not once, not twice but three times. You don’t hear all of that from the national media. But you’ll hear me give Kyle Shanahan credit for going for it on fourth down and for firing defensive coordinator Steve Wilks in the aftermath of Super Bowl LVIII. Wilks’s defense and their inability to get a stop on three separate occasions-two of which where a stop would have won the 49ers Super Bowl LVIII- is the reason why the 49ers lost Super Bowl LVIII. Kyle Shanahan is not to blame for the 49ers losing Super Bowl LVIII. I felt that way days after Super Bowl LVIII, and I feel that way almost four months later.