The San Francisco 49ers lost a second Super Bowl in five years on Sunday vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. Head coach Kyle Shanahan is facing backlash after blowing another double-digit lead.
Kyle Shanahan first appeared in the Super Bowl as an offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons. The team infamously blew a 28-3 lead late in the game, allowing Tom Brady and the New England Patriots to complete the greatest postseason comeback in NFL history.
A few years later, Shanahan, now head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, held a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LIV. A young Patrick Mahomes and his upstart Kansas City Chiefs stormed back to send Shanahan home in defeat.
This year, the 49ers earned the top seed in the NFC, using home field advantage to win their way to yet another Super Bowl appearance. And as you’d have it, Mahomes and the Chiefs sat waiting for the much-anticipated rematch.
Once again, San Francisco got off to a hot start by taking a commanding 10-0 lead, but history repeated itself, as self-inflicted errors, coupled with brilliance from Mahomes, dealt Shanahan a third Super Bowl collapse in his relatively short NFL career. Some within the media are now calling him the biggest loser in playoff history.
Bill Simmons calls Kyle Shanahan the “biggest loser ever”
Bill Simmons of The Ringer compared Shanahan to the Bills, Browns, Vikings, and Lions when it comes to soul-crushing postseason losses. Simmons broke down Shanahan’s frequent failures in further detail on his podcast.
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“Shanahan has that 28-3 comeback that the Patriots had against him. He had multiple chances to put the game away on offense,” Simmons explained. “So, he’s haunted by that.”
“Then the Jimmy Garoppolo Super Bowl where they’re in the game, and Jimmy G just misses the guy. They were up ten in that game, and they blew the lead,” Simmons said.
Tough times for Kyle Shanahan. pic.twitter.com/jRrRvQyGJT
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) February 12, 2024
“And this is the worst one. I think Kyle Shanahan has now joined the Bills, Browns, Lions, and the Vikings. He’s had three horrible losses, which are as bad as some of those other teams in the last 30 years. At least from a coach standpoint, he’s the first one I think of now.”
For context, Buffalo lost four Super Bowls in a row in the 1990s, while Cleveland, Detroit, and Minnesota have all suffered meltdowns of their own on the biggest stage. Now, Simmons believes Shanahan’s name is synonymous with those franchises.
The 44-year-old head coach sports a sparkling track record in the regular season and in the NFC playoffs. However, with three all-time Super Bowl collapses under his belt, the discourse will remain centered around February. And it will continue until Shanahan and the Niners get that monkey off their back.