San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has been directly involved in three blown leads at the Super Bowl. And like his earlier losses with the Falcons and Niners, poor coaching decisions played a huge role in the defeats.
Even Travis Kelce couldn’t believe what the 49ers were doing.
With the new overtime rules for the Super Bowl, both teams are guaranteed a possession unless the first drive results in a defensive score. So, the team that receives second benefits because it knows exactly what it needs to score. The Niners, though, won that overtime toss and elected to receive first.
Kelce explained on Wednesday’s New Heights podcast why he was so surprised.
Travis Kelce was stunned the 49ers chose to take the ball first in overtime 😬
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) February 14, 2024
He said:
“You win the coin toss, that’s what you get. You get the opportunity to have the advantage. And they gave it right over to us. … Not trying to harp on the guy, but it was a huge (mistake) — when they said they wanted to receive and the ref looked at Fred (Warner) and he said, ‘Are you sure?’ … I jumped out of my seat.”
Shanahan tried to defend the decision by claiming he wanted the opportunity to have the ball third in a potential sudden-death drive. But that entire reasoning overlooked the fact that two-point conversions exist, and that the Chiefs were going for two had the Niners scored a touchdown in that first drive. The Niners were never going to get a third possession, which made the decision so puzzling — along with several Niners players admitting they didn’t know the overtime rules changed.
That’s the kind of mistake that separates a Super Bowl champion from a Super Bowl-losing team.
