Getty Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan watches a Super Bowl LI.
The Atlanta Falcons will forever be known for blowing a 28-3 lead in Super Bowl LI against the New England Patriots. And fingers will forever be pointed at former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan for an embarrassing second half of play calling.
Shanahan joined a recent episode of The Ringer’s “Flying Coach” podcast where he opened up about the tragic ending and his biggest regret five years later.
After watching Brady mow through the Falcons’ defense and gracefully get downfield, Shanahan knew he had to speed things up.
“But I will say, I sat there so long and watched Tom Brady pick us apart and go 34, 36, or whatever he did, and I remember saying, ‘If I get this ball back, I’m not waiting; we gotta go,’ and Julio [Jones] caught that huge play,” Shanahan said.
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The One Play Call Shanahan Regrets
After an unsuccessful 2nd and 10 run prior to Julio’s sideline grab, the Falcons were sitting at 2nd and 11 and Shanahan decided to call a pass play for Jones with that catch still on his mind.
“So we threw it to Julio. He caught that, I ran it the next play, got it to second-and-10, and I was like, ‘I’m going right to Julio,’ and I called a play to totally go to Julio.
“Right when we snapped the ball, coverage took it away, so it was the wrong call. I wish we didn’t take that sack, but no one was open, and we ended up taking a sack. Right then, I was like, ‘Oh my God, why did I just try to end it?’”
To get back into field goal range, Shanahan inevitably called another pass play to Mohamed Sanu for a first down, but Jake Matthews was called for holding Chris Long.
“Yeah, I wish I called a different call on that one play,” Shanahan said. “I don’t want to go to the final (thought process on) everything. You’re down, you get into the two-minute (drill), you throw the ball six plays straight, but that one right there, and I think it would have been different.”
Watch the entire segment with Peter Schrager and LA Rams head coach Sean McVay here:
I’m not sure we’ we ever heard Kyle Shanahan go through the final minutes and the play calling decisions of the Falcons Super Bowl loss to the Patriots.
He does here.
And then McVay discusses Seattle’s decision to throw and not run w/ Marshawn on Malcolm Butler INT.
What NFL Fans Had to Say
Naturally, NFL fans chimed in on what will go down in history as one of the worst play calls
Some fans will never get over the loss:
I will never forgive Shanahan for the rest of my life until the Falcons win a SB!! It still infuriates and pains me to listen to his cavalier attitude about it to this day!
— Adam Zippan (@AZip70) July 8, 2021
Others would rather blame Matt Ryan:
I love Matt Ryan but as a vet he’s gotta know in that situation that he CAN’T take a sack. I put that more on the QB than the OC. Shanny trusted Ryan and it cost him in that situation.
— Matt Silva 🌹 (@masilva152) July 8, 2021
Some would even go as far to understand Shanahan’s decision:
I understand his point. He did have a Pro Bowl kicker in Matt Bryant though who hadn’t missed a single FG indoors all season long. The SB was in a dome.
He lost sight of his most likely win condition after the Julio catch. The holding penalty also was clear as day + facemask.
— Matthias Martin (@MatthiasWhist) July 7, 2021
But at the end of the day, Atlanta is just cursed:
Ugh. It still hurts. I held back my expectations that entire game until the Julio catch. That should’ve ended it but ATL sports are cursed.
— James Boothe (@F3Barker) July 8, 2021
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Kyle Shanahan Opens Up About Falcons’ Tragic Super Bowl Loss