Heartbreak in Super Bowl 54

San Francisco 49ers collapse in face of greatness

For the second time in the last four years, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and his team were unable to hold a lead in the Super Bowl. 

The San Francisco 49ers were defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 31-20 on Sunday evening in Super Bowl LIV. The loss left Shanahan still seeking for his first Lombardi trophy in his coaching career. 

In 2017, Kyle Shanahan found himself in the Super Bowl against Tom Brady and a powerful New England Patriots squad. Back then, Shanahan was the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons. 

He led them to the league’s highest scoring offense and an eventual National Football League (NFL) Assistant Coach of the Year award. 

During the Falcons’ Super Bowl matchup with the Patriots, Shanahan’s offensive play-calls led Atlanta to a 28-3 lead late in the third quarter. 

Everything was going right–the Falcons carried the momentum. All they had to do was run out the clock and stop the Patriots  from scoring– but they failed at both.  

The Falcons would go on to lose Super Bowl LI in overtime to New England 34-28, and the next day, Shanahan was named the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. 

Despite his new job, he faced heavy criticism from Atlanta fans for his inability to utilize his running backs and his inefficiency with time management. When asked about the mistakes he learned from his loss with Atlanta, Shanahan said he can live with it.  

“I’d do it all over again, maybe a play or so, I’d call differently,” he said But I feel a lot stronger and better from it.”

Fast forward to three years later. Once again, Shanahan’s offensive mind led his team to the NFL’s biggest stage: the Super Bowl.  The 49ers found themselves with a 10 point lead heading into the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game. They were 15 minutes away from capturing their first Super Bowl victory since 1995. Everything was going right–the 49ers carried momentum. 

However, they were outplayed and outcoached by Kansas City’s quarterback, Patrick Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid.The Chiefs mounted a brilliant late-game comeback by scoring 21 unanswered points in the game’s final quarter. 

Reid called for a no-huddle offense that allowed Mahomes to utilize his standout receivers and tight end, Travis Kelce. 

With his weapons, Mahomes began playing like the way we are accustomed to. In the two fourth quarter drives that gave Kansas City the lead, Mahomes completed eight of 12 passes for 114 yards and threw for two passing touchdowns. 

This was the type of play that led him to be this year’s Super Bowl MVP. Rather than building off his team’s rush-heavy offense that built San Francisco's lead up to ten, Shanahan and the Niners tried to match the Chiefs’ dominant passing game. 

They strayed away from their identity, and it cost them the national title. After the 49ers defense picked off a pass from Mahomes with only 12 minutes remaining, they proceeded to pass the ball. 

From that point on, the team only ran the ball five more times–compared to 12 pass attempts. 

Out of those 12 passes, their quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was only able to complete three of them, including a timely interception that added to Kansas City’s newly-found momentum.

All year, San Francisco found success by utilizing their running backs and getting clutch passes from Garoppolo. 

But during Sunday’s fourth quarter, Shanahan abandoned his team’s run-heavy offense and timely passing combination that was successful for the game’s first three quarters and the season’s first 19 games.

Early in the game, Shanahan continued to work his offense in a way that led them to a total of 15 wins this season. On their first touchdown, they ran the ball four times and threw it three times. 

The eventual touchdown came from a short pass to fullback, Kyle Juszczyk. 

In a similar third quarter drive, they ran the ball twice–including the touchdown–and mixed in four Garoppolo passes. 

At 21-10 with a fired-up Niners team clearly dominating, they abandoned their game.

In the second half, Garoppolo totalled 20 passing attempts, only completing 55 percent of them: a mark well below his season average of 69.1 percent completion percentage during the regular season.

Garoppolo’s 31 total passing attempts in the Super Bowl were more than he threw in the 49ers last two playoff games combined.

“We were just grateful those guys got out of the run and started to throw the ball,” said Chiefs’ safety Tyrann Mathieu after the game. “Once you peel back, it’s a pretty simple offense. They move a lot of guys. . . but it’s window dressing.”

After the 49ers heart-wrenching Super Bowl loss, Shanahan finds himself with infamous NFL company. 

In the history of the league, there are only three teams to lose a Super Bowl with a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter and Shanahan has called the offensive plays for two of them. 

In those two Super Bowls, Shanahan’s teams have been outscored 46-0 in the fourth quarter and overtime. 

“We came up short on just a couple plays. . . when we had to answer, we didn't,” Shanahan said after the loss. “They made some good plays and we just missed them.”

Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers are on the rise in the NFL, but the Lombardi Trophy has still been elusive to the franchise for the past 25 years. 

Until the head coach overcomes his dreadful Super Bowl demons, he will have to continue answering for his questionable play-calling during his team’s biggest games. 

Contact Nic Carpino at ncarpino@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.