The 49ers had a chance to build a lead at the end of the first half, but Kyle Shanahan played it safe.
The first half of Super Bowl LIV was going well for the San Francisco 49ers. With a couple minutes in the half remaining, the two teams were tied 10-10, but Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes hadn’t looked like himself, and the 49ers’ front four on defense (especially Nick Bosa) were wreaking havoc constantly.
At the two-minute warning of the first half, the Chiefs tried an end-around to Mecole Hardman that the 49ers sniffed out and stopped brilliantly — it caused a six-yard loss on the play.
A play later the Chiefs tried a short pass to running back Damien Williams, which the 49ers stopped for a one-yard gain. It was 4th and 13, with 1:53 seconds left in the half, and … 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t call timeout.
It was a perplexing decision, a basic concession that the 49ers were happy going into halftime tied against the Chiefs, a team that had shown time and time again that its offense could break out at any moment.
Shanahan stayed pat. The cameras then cut up to 49ers general manager John Lynch, who was frantically signaling that the team needed to take a timeout.
What was even stranger about Shanahan’s decision is that, once the 49ers got the ball, he actually took some shots downfield. It took the team failing on two runs, but then Shanahan got aggressive.
The 49ers completed a 20-yard pass to Jeff Wilson, then Jimmy Garoppolo threw a bomb downfield that George Kittle caught for a 42-yard gain. The pass was nullified due to a borderline offensive pass interference call, but even if it hadn’t been called back, the 49ers only had about 14 seconds at that point.
With the penalty, they kneeled, then went in for the half.
Which brings up the question: Why? Why all of it? Why go timid, not call timeout, run twice … then start going for it? Shanahan was letting the Chiefs dictate his play calling, and not dictating it for himself.
After the game Shanahan said he felt good about the score being tied at ten. I … just don’t understand that. The Chiefs had shown time and time again this postseason that all they needed was a few looks to blow open a game. The 49ers had the chance to take a lead and keep Kansas City on the back foot.
They didn’t. They held pat, they couldn’t build a big enough lead in the third quarter, and then — when their pass rush tired in the fourth — the Chiefs blew the game open.
Kyle Shanahan will get dinged for not running the ball when his team had the lead, but I think that’s unfair. Jimmy Garoppolo had open receivers he didn’t hit. What Shanahan can get dinged for is being timid when he needed to try and win the game.
