49ers’ Kyle Shanahan Praises Chiefs’ Defensive Star, Talks Super Bowl Loss

Kyle Shanahan Trucker Hat

Getty Kyle Shanahans trucker hat has become a national sensation.

Just under six months on from Super Bowl LIV, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has opened up on how the Kansas City Chiefs shifted momentum.

Shanahan recently went on former NFL quarterback and analyst Chris Simms’ podcast, Chris Simms Unbuttoned, talking about a variety of topics but most notably how the momentum shifted late in the 49ers’ 31-20 Super Bowl loss.

While many plays come to mind in the second half of the Chiefs’ win, Shanahan talks about one famous play and one play that doesn’t get quite as much recognition.

The Third-and-15  Conversion

For Chiefs fans, it’s a play immortalized. For 49ers fans, it’s a play to forget. Either way, Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ connection with receiver Tyreek Hill was determined to be the play of the contest.

From Shanahan’s perspective, it was the play that decided whether Kansas City could remain in the game or not.

“Right when they got that third-and 15, because I thought it was over to me if they didn’t get that. And right when they got that, I knew it wasn’t over. I knew it was a game.

“When you can have two possessions with no worry about the time — like, the clock isn’t a deal to me, and it would have been three possessions if they didn’t get that first down. And that’s when the clock was a deal. But once they got that, I was like, ‘All right, this is a game now.’ “

As the cliché goes, the rest is history.

Shanahan Highlights Chris Jones’ Tipped Pass

On the other side of the coin, Shanahan also talked about a play that isn’t often brought up in coverage and retrospectives of the game, which came through Chiefs defensive end Chris Jones.

“They scored, and we had to convert the next, and on a second-and-6, they brought a SAM-MIKE corner blitz into our run, and we pulled it and threw an RPO, and Chris Jones tipped it,” Shanahan said. “We went to third-and-6 — we had to convert that to stay on the field to make it tough — and then we missed the third down. So it was that tipped ball on second-and-6, and then the third down that we missed, and that’s when I was like, ‘All right, the momentum has completely changed now.’ ”

While the third down could be considered another important play, Shanahan obviously has thought considerably about Jones’ play.

This is because, according to the 49ers’ head coach, is because of how open tight end George Kittle was and that it could’ve led to more clock run down and potentially a score.

“We could have ended it. We had [George] Kittle uncovered, and Chris Jones made a hell of a play and tipped it. They brought the SAM-MIKE corner blitz to a 3-by-1 slot and we flooded the other way, which you can’t cover all that — Kittle was uncovered — and he just got his hands up and tipped it. And then we didn’t convert the third down, and that’s when I was like, ‘All right, now the momentum has changed.’ Because now it’s just one score, and they are moving.”

While Shanahan had a good bit to say about the game and what happened, it’s also apparent that he and the 49ers are going to try and use it to grow.

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Evan Reier is a sportswriter covering the San Francisco 49ers for Heavy.com and local sports for the Montana Standard in Butte, Mont. Reach out to him on Twitter at @evanreier and join our 49ers community at Heavy on 49ers on Facebook.