6956bear said:
ducky23 said:
6956bear said:
BearGoggles said:
Shanahan lost the game for the 49rs. They were running the ball at will and then in the third quarter - after getting a great defensive turnover - he abandoned the run. Didn't find it again until late in the game when once again McCaffrey dominated. And then taking the ball first in overtime was obviously the wrong thing to do.
The muffed punt was the single biggest play in the game. It completely turned the game around. The Chiefs scored on the next play. But yes Shanahan was right in the middle of the loss again with some strange play calling and the fireable (IMO) offense of choosing to receive the OT kickoff.
The missed XP was huge. It allowed the Chiefs to play for OT instead of having to try and win on that last drive of regulation. They may have won but the missed XP gave the Chiefs an option they should not have had.
The pass to Kelce on the last drive of regulation where he got the Chiefs into position was a huge play. He gained 25 yards and got out of bounds. Warner as great as he is should not have been in solo coverage there. You have to make another option beat you. Warner did defend Kelce great later which forced the Chiefs to kick the FG. But that short cross Kelce turned into a big play was a crucial coaching misfire.
The decision to take the opening kickoff of OT was horrible. Now we are seeing reports that the 49ers did not know about the rule change. If true Shanahan should be fired. That is awful prepartion for the biggest game of his career. The players should be pissed. You do not willingly give Mahomes a chance to win the game when he knows a TD is needed.
Andy Reid has a great QB, but is a great coach. Kyle Shanhan is not great HC. He is very overrated. They have likely had the best overall roster for 3 straight years and he has managed to have his coaching decisions get in the way all too often.
The 49ers may have one more run in them next year, but their window is closing.
Where have you seen reports that the niners didn't know the new OT rule? (I'm genuinely curious)
In his postgame interview, I thought shamahan's reasoning for that decision was sound. I also think the analytics slightly favor taking the ball first. I also think romo's point that the defense was gassed was a good one.
I would have personally deferred just because of Mahomes. But I think the call is fairly 50/50 so I hardly think it's a fireable offense.
The flip side of the argument is that if you think Mahomes is going to score no matter what, the chiefs will win anyways even if you defer. Cause Mahomes will score a TD first. Then even if you match the TD, it basically forces you to go for 2 cause you can't give the ball back to Mahomes where a simple FG wins it.
There are numerous reports today that several players were unaware of the new rule. Kyle Juszczyk thought if they scored a TD on their drive the game would be over.
The decision is much like the college OT rule. Play defense first because you then know what is needed to win.
Once the game went to OT it did favor the Chiefs IMO as they have the best QB. But I am sick of everyone making excuses for Shanahan.
For his players to not be aware of the rules is really weak management. The Chiefs were aware.
For his players not to know the OT rules is bad (and if you want to rip Shanahan for that, be my guest), but its completely irrelevant to whether Shanahan made the right call about whether to take the ball for OT (if Shanahan himself didn't know the rules, thats a different story, but I don't believe that to be the case).
And it is not analogous to the college OT rule. Yes, ideally you like to know what you need to win. However, UNLIKE college, the team with the 3rd possession can win it (which is not the case with College). This completely changes the analytics of the situation.
Again, I think its close to a 50/50 call. Especially with the Niners D having been on the field for 11 straight plays AND two key defensive players were dinged up on the last defensive possession and needed time to get back on the field.
For all those that think it was a crime to take the ball first, you better be prepared to go for 2 on possession #2 in OT. Because you simply cannot give the ball back to Mahomes on possession #3 for a chance to win with a FG. Were you all prepared to put the super bowl on the success of a niners 2 point conversion? I wasn't. And I believe thats the main reason Shanahan took the ball first.
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The bigger Shanahan sin was the 2nd and 5 call towards the end of regulation. This was the situation. 2nd and 5. A little over 2 mins left. Niners already in FG range. All you need is 1 first down and you can run the clock out and win it with a FG. So all you need to win the super bowl is 5 freaking yards. And you theoretically have 3 downs to get it. You don't need a big play, you just need to scratch out 5 yards.
So with all that in mind, Shanahan calls a pass on 2nd and 5, which goes for zero yards. Now its 3rd and 5, its an obvious pass situation, chiefs blitz, boop...FG.
Shanahan had to call whatever play he had to get a guaranteed 2-3 yards (5 yards would be nice, but you MUST get at least 2 to 3 yards). I'm extremely confident that if you give the ball to your generational running back and run behind your generational fullback and generational LT, you can get 2-3 yards. Best case, you get the first down on 2nd and 5. Worst case, you get that 2-3 yards and now its 3rd and 2. Now you can run again and give it to your generational RB. Don't get it on 3rd? You still have a 4th and short and you at least give yourself an option to go for it (which I would have....1 yard to win the super bowl? Yes every time).
If Shanahan had to do it all over again, I'm pretty sure he calls a different play on that extremely critical 2nd and 5. I don't think Shanahan has regrets about the OT decision.