The last time Kyle Shanahan coached in a Super Bowl, he played a prominent role in the most remarkable collapse in NFL history.
Shanahan was the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator in Super Bowl LI. He watched from the sideline as his team blew a 28-3 lead against the New England Patriots and lost 34-28 in overtime. His offense, which led the league in scoring during the 2016 regular season and averaged 36 points per game in the playoffs, failed to score on its final four possessions, allowing Tom Brady and the Patriots to overcome what should have been an insurmountable deficit.
The play-calling on those four drives — each of which lasted less than 2:30 — subjected Shanahan to heavy criticism in the weeks and months that followed. He believes those critiques were misguided.
“The days after it were real tough,” Shanahan, who now coaches this year’s NFC champion, the San Francisco 49ers, told reporters Monday. “Losing a Super Bowl is extremely tough for everybody, especially when you lose one when you have a 28-3 lead. … But the way it came down on me personally, I didn’t react to that, I think, the way people would expect, because there were definitely parts in that Super Bowl that I would love to have back and stuff I was very hard on myself (about), but the whole narrative of if I would’ve just ran it, we would’ve won, I know that wasn’t the case. I know what went into that game and all the stuff that happened, so that stuff didn’t bother me.”
In fact, Shanahan said he regrets just one play he called during New England’s historic comeback.
With Atlanta leading 28-20 with just under four minutes remaining, Shanahan dialed up a pass play on second-and-11 from New England’s 23-yard line. The Falcons were in field-goal range at the time, and three points in that situation would have essentially iced the game. But Trey Flowers sacked Matt Ryan on second down, Chris Long drew a hold on third-and-23 and the Patriots’ defense forced an incompletion on third-and-33.
Atlanta punted and never threatened again. New England tied the game on the ensuing drive, then scored the game-winning touchdown on the opening series of overtime.
“We haven’t converted a third down, really the entire second half,” Shanahan told reporters, explaining the rationale behind his controversial second-and-11 decision. “I think we were averaging 1 yard a carry rushing. So when you do that, the formula to keep giving the ball back to (the other team) is to go run, run, pass, because you’re going to (face) a third-and-7 at the best every single time. And if you’re not converting third downs, that makes it tough. So we did mix it up a little bit. I think we actually ran it more in the second half than we did in the first half. …
“Finally (the Patriots) got it within a score, we got it back and got pretty aggressive to get it down there. It was a second-and-(11). The last time down there, on second-and-(1) we called a run, and we got a 2-yard loss and a holding call that put us out of field-goal range. This time, I went the opposite, tried to get a play to Julio (Jones). They played a different coverage, didn’t get the call I wanted, so I didn’t like the call. I was hoping we could just get rid of it, but they had a pretty good rush, got a sack, and once that happened, I knew we had to throw because now we were out of field-goal range. Threw it the next down to (Mohamed) Sanu — he ran a choice route breaking out, moved the chains — but they called a holding call on our left tackle, so that put us way back. We had to throw again to get back into (field-goal range), and we missed it.
“I wish I didn’t call that play on second-and-11 that led to that sack.”
As his 49ers prepare to face the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV, Shanahan can expect to face countless questions about the lessons he learned from his last appearance on the game’s grandest stage. His answer won’t be that he should have run the ball more in the fourth quarter.
“I thought I did a pretty good job that year,” Shanahan told reporters. “We had a historical offense in Atlanta and did a lot of good things. But as a play-caller, you’re just as good as your last game. So you go after all that stuff. You learn stuff from everything. But people act like there was a bunch of big learning moments in that game. I wish I wouldn’t have called that pass on second-and-10, but the learning moments are ‘never feel good.’
“That’s why — I promise you — when we’re way up in the fourth quarter on Green Bay (in the NFC Championship Game), I know what 28 minus 3 is, and I know a 25-point lead in the fourth quarter isn’t enough. So when we only have a 14-point lead with eight minutes to go versus Green Bay, I can promise you that I think I feel, from experience, like the game is tied and that we don’t have a two-score lead. And I think that’s the stuff that helps you because sometimes I think people can tend to relax, and that’s something — I won’t say that I ever relaxed in that Super Bowl, especially with Tom Brady having that ball — but that’s something that keeps you humble at every single moment until the game is over.”
