The Seattle Seahawks’ primary rival, the San Francisco 49ers, made quite the shocking move when they fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. In Super Bowl LVIII, Wilks’ unit held the Kansas City Chiefs to only 19 points and one touchdown in regulation, looking far superior when compared to San Francisco’s offense. The decision to fire Wilks has only brought further critique to embattled 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who is still under fire for his near-inexplicable decision in overtime of Super Bowl LVIII.
With both teams tied at 19-19, and San Francisco as the designated “away” team, the 49ers won the toss and chose to receive the ball first. Under the old rules, San Francisco could have won the game with a touchdown. However, the new overtime rules for the playoffs ensures both teams get a chance at possessing the ball, regardless if the first team scores a touchdown on their opening drive. Shanahan defended his position by saying they wanted the ball third, assuming the 49ers and Chiefs would both score, thus creating a “sudden death” scenario for San Francisco to win the game on said possession.
#49ers coach Kyle Shanahan goes deep on his decision to receive the overtime kickoff in the Super Bowl loss:
“We wanted the ball third. If both teams matched and scored, we wanted to be the ones who had the chance to go win.” https://t.co/btmVykezpY
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 13, 2024
Here’s the thing, though: let’s say San Francisco scored a touchdown on their opening drive, forcing Kansas City to need a touchdown to extend the game. The Chiefs could have scored a touchdown… and attempt a two-point conversion to win the game! Sure, it’s a 50/50 proposition, one play to determine the fate of both team but does anyone seriously doubt Patrick Mahomes and Co. would have been successful? Especially since all Mahomes does is overcome seemingly insurmountable deficits in the playoffs.
If they were successful in this hypothetical scenario, then the whole “we want the ball third” philosophy goes right out the window into the trash heap of history. Essentially, these new postseason overtime rules are a full-field version of college football’s overtime where you’d want to have the ball second to have all the knowledge of what your team needs to accomplish to continue or win the game.
Additionally, Shanahan deserves further flak on account of his team seemingly not knowing the updated postseason overtime rules. Former Seahawks and 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman put the blame on San Francisco’s veteran players, but ultimately, the responsibility for making sure players are coached up accordingly should lie with… *checks notes*… the head coach!
You can see at the exact moment when PattyMac knew he was gonna win his 3rd ring https://t.co/iHesxBx21x
— El Pípe (@WNDRLST_Pipe) February 15, 2024