The 49ers Have a Shanahan Problem

The 2023 San Francisco 49ers were, by most metrics, a dream team. This season, they had multiple All-Pros on offense, from left tackle to fullback to running back to tight end to wide receiver. This is without mentioning the best middle linebacker in the sport, a top-tier pass rusher and one of the league’s best interior linemen.

Their quarterback is an actual dream, a player taken last in the draft who led the league in most statistical categories and yet was still skipped over for All-Pro and MVP recognition.

Despite all this talent, San Francisco’s playoff run looked poor. In games against Green Bay and Detroit, they were largely outplayed and arguably should’ve lost both. Alas, they won, they made the Super Bowl and I’m writing this column.

Coach Kyle Shanahan, perhaps the game’s greatest play caller, would get a third chance at the Super Bowl. His previous two tries did not end well.

Up 28-3, he squandered it in perhaps the greatest collapse in the history of football. To this day, Brady and the Patriots’ impossible comeback is my favorite football game.

Up 10 in the fourth quarter, he butchered another one. Kansas City won their first Super Bowl in the Mahomes era.

He managed these failings not through unfortunate events or refball but through pure coaching incompetence, the stubborn refusal to adjust, a lack of situational awareness and poor clock management.

Now seven years since that legendary Falcons collapse in Super Bowl 51 and four since that 10 point fumble against this same Chiefs core, he would get a chance to show the world he had learned from these humbling experiences and grown wiser from it.

Only, he hasn’t.

A more perfect draw of the cards could not have been had in this game for Kyle.

Kansas City’s offense no-showed for almost an entire two quarters. They were out of sync and their offensive line was under siege. San Francisco had a long drive to start the game and sustained drives throughout the first half that kept Mahomes and crew off the field.

The Chiefs would manage a field goal toward the end of half. San Francisco had 23 seconds and two timeouts.

Shanahan elected for a McCaffrey run and a walk into the locker room up 10-3.

This is an abomination of clock management. To not even attempt to score, to feel complacent and comfortable up one score in a game you’ve dominated? Bewildering, to be polite and disrespectful of what we all know Kansas City can do.

Mahomes and this same Chiefs team once tied a playoff game in 13 seconds. That was a different unit and team build, sure but challenging Mahomes’ greatness, Reid’s mind, the pedigree of that organization, is arrogant and foolish.

Too many times in his career, Shanahan has taken his foot off the gas pedal and settled. Settlers do not win championships.

Other times, Shanahan can’t seem to understand when to take it off.

Kyle Gonna Kyle

The second half began with a Chiefs possession. Pacheco would fumble on the first snap (KC would recover) and Mahomes would throw a poor interception to end the drive. Now a short distance from establishing themselves, a golden opportunity for Shanahan and company was present: a shot at momentum and at minimum, a chance at recapturing their 10-point lead.

They went three-and-out.

The wisest way to beat Patrick Mahomes is to keep him off the field, which means sustaining drives and draining clock on offense.

In the second half, Shanahan decided to minimize the best running back in football, Christian McCaffrey. This after his All-Pro tight end ended the first half with zero targets.

Shanahan’s bread and butter is under center, play-action passing paired with a consistent zone read run game but in the sport’s biggest exhibits, Shanahan elected to abandon that for shotgun, often empty, formations where his offense statistically performs worse than possibly any other.

Purdy is not a gunslinger and even if he was, playing gunslinger football against two All-Pro caliber corners in Trent McDuffie and L’Jarius Sneed and an All-Pro pass rusher in defensive tackle Chris Jones is really, really dumb but Shanahan enjoys making situations as hard as possible for his players.

Come playoff time, the game’s best play designer turns into Arthur Smith, a man who doesn’t understand personnel management. Jauan Jennings was the 49ers best vertical threat in the game. His All-Pro receiver, Brandon Aiyuk, had three receptions. Kittle got a whole two catches for four yards at game’s end.

Kansas City had the league’s best defense this season but often got bullied in the run game. “Wow, Kyle, I was just looking at the roster sheet and it says here that San Francisco has an All-Pro left tackle, an All-Pro fullback and the league’s best running back and offensive player of the year. Maybe we should utilize these three players and run the damn ball.”

But no. Shanahan insisted on shotgun and incomplete passes. No explosive plays happened in the pass game aside from an extremely bizarre WR pass from Jennings, a ball that lingered in the air for a calendar year, somehow didn’t get picked off and was taken by McCaffrey for a score. A deep ball into the end zone was knocked away by McDuffie in 1-on-1 coverage on Deebo Samuel and another end zone shot was missed after the throw was disrupted by a Chris Jones pressure, that All-Pro defensive tackle I was talking about earlier.

With the 2-minute warning passed at the end of the game and a third-and-four, San Francisco was a first down away from eliminating Kansas City’s final two timeouts and kicking a go-ahead field goal with little time remaining, if any.

Kansas City would blitz. Running the ball was the right call. At worst, it would kill one of Reid’s stoppages. At best, it would punish the blitz and get the first down, essentially icing the game.

Shanahan called shotgun. Incomplete. San Fran would kick and Mahomes would systematically drive down the field for the tying score to send the game to overtime.

Now in the extra period, another third and medium. McCaffrey had been the cog that had delivered San Francisco to this position.

Shanahan called shotgun. Incomplete. San Fran would kick, Mahomes would drive down the field for the winning score.

For all of Shanahan’s success, all of his schemes, designs and talents, these are the only numbers that matter:

28-3

20-10

10-0

Those are the three Super Bowl leads he has blown, all back-to-back.

After a third failure and second in the Bay Area, Shanahan’s seat should be getting warm if not hot. Shanahan is coming scarily close to Mike McCarthy, another coach who struggles with clock management and situational awareness.

As Sean McVay continues to evolve in the NFC West, Shanahan appears to be regressing, failing to learn from his greatest failures. All three of these Super Bowl defeats came from a refusal to run the ball. Perhaps that is why Super Bowl Sunday felt underwhelming this year, a season finale I’ve already seen before.

The night should be remembered for Mahomes’ second half magic and theatrics, the Chiefs’ back-to-back trophy run, Reid’s continued success but the prevailing story line, the tale that will likely fade as time passes, the message on the other side of the page, is the thread of Shanahan’s shenaningans, the chapter of a man who repeats his mistakes at the podium and won’t learn his lesson, who abandons his identity and talents when the heat is hottest for lesser fair.

Because unlike many in the sports realm, Shanahan is not bullish or an old-school football mind tethered to the principles of the past. He is creative, in some ways revolutionary, artistic even but there is clearly something significant lacking with Shanahan. Maybe that something will appear in time but now seven years since that infamous 28-3, Kyle is still fucking around and finding out.

For all his brilliance, Shanahan’s greatest adversary is himself, from his hatred of the run game in big moments, his lacking awareness in not just the situational sense but in his evaluation of prospects (not enough has been said about the Trey Lance debacle) and his understanding of his opponent and his own personnel.

As great as Mahomes was in that second half last night, the biggest reason Kansas City will be hosting a championship parade is Kyle Shanahan’s persistent need to stand in his own way.

If San Francisco has the type of season they had this year in 2024 and Shanahan once again is responsible for an early playoff exit, a serious discussion needs to be had. Detroit’s Ben Johnson will once again be available. There are plenty of bright NFL minds who could accomplish great things with this All-Star team.

I’m sure this will be an unpopular take. Shanahan owns his division and has a dominating record against McVay and he’s made multiple NFC Championships and Super Bowls but context matters and is often more important than the final result. Maybe I’m the dumb one (entirely possible) but it sure feels like the 49ers are Michael Phelps during the regular season. They turn into a talented college swimmer after a hangover come playoffs, skilled enough to win sometimes but never seemingly at their best. Multiple players after Sunday’s Bowl said they were unaware of the new overtime rules. That’s coaching.

In all three Super Bowls, Shanahan was running the ball away from winning. If he would simply embrace his own identity, he would be a three-time Super Bowl champion and on his way to Canton.

Instead, he’s now known as one of the greatest Super Bowl chokers in NFL history and his Hall candidacy is very much in question despite all he’s brought to the sport.

Shanahan is capable of great things but the Bay Area cannot wait much longer for him to figure it out. The 49ers already missed a window with the tandem of new Hall of Famer Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman. They missed the Garoppolo window. They cannot afford to miss this window of Bosa, Warner, Kittle, Deebo, Aiyuk, CMC, Trent, Juszczyk and so many more.

Because Sunday, the 49ers were not a quarterback away. They were not an offensive line or a defense away. They were not even a “Patrick Mahomes not on the other sideline” away.

They were a coach away.

Steelers Hire Arthur Smith

With another season of failure freshly finished in the Steelers history books, the hope things might change, though distant and frail, was still alive.

Even now, as of this writing, Tomlin hasn’t been extended. It’s technically still possible, however remote, this will finally be the end of the Steelers’ Curse, their Neverending Hell, their continual circuit on the hamster wheel finally over.

Yet, owner Art Rooney II’s recent press conference was less than encouraging.

Rooney said he believes the team can compete with this group of players. Why?

Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow, two of the top-five best quarterbacks in football, live in your division. Patrick Mahomes, already one of the sport’s all-time greats, has a stranglehold on the AFC Championship. CJ Stroud and Trevor Lawrence are both problems in the South. Josh Allen, King Turnover or not, still provides more firepower than you can deal with. This is all without mentioning quality coaches in Kevin Stefanski, Shane Steichen, Mike McDaniel and now Jim Harbaugh to deal with.

Remove TJ Watt from your team. What gives you confidence you can compete with any of them on the game’s biggest stage?

Regular season success is fickle and for the truly great teams, it’s just practice. Sports media has told us for months how vulnerable the Chiefs are. This Kansas City squad has one of the worst receiving units in the sport and yet, less than a week away from the Super Bowl, who is representing the AFC yet again? Kansas City.

For a full season, we heard how lifeless the offense was, how susceptible the team was but they found ways to win most of the season and come playoffs, it has looked routine for them. The ice bowl versus Miami wasn’t competitive, the road game in Buffalo a familiar tale and the upset of favored Baltimore made anyone who doubted Kansas City feel dumb: “I’ve seen this before. Why did I doubt history, deny my memory?”

I took Kansas City to win all three games. Miami does not play well in the cold. The moment has been too big for the Bills too many times to trust them. Baltimore has two playoff wins since 2015 and played one quality half versus Houston.

For as much as the world changes, truths don’t. Pedigree, principles and revolutionary, forward-thinking philosophies always carry the most weight, not talent. It’s why I expect a Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl win. The Red Kingdom getting points in three straight playoff games is comically wrong.

The Steelers have none of these things.

Their pedigree is getting outclassed in all areas when they make the playoffs.

Their principles are antiquated. In a league where quarterbacks are lighting up scoreboards, Pittsburgh is not only content but emboldened to run their offense like it’s 1997. Play defense, try not to allow 20 points, which means they have to be one of the best defenses in football every year and hope the offense can accidentally fall in the end zone once or twice.

Defense is important in today’s game. The Chiefs have the best defense and even though half their receivers don’t have hands, they’re in the Super Bowl but if you’ve watched professional, NFL football the last ten years and believe a play style from 1997 is going to succeed in 2024, you shouldn’t be anywhere near a sports organization.

A large part of failure in life comes from a refusal to adapt and the Steelers are run by both an owner and a head coach who have no interest in changing their ways despite repeated, loud disappointments.

Poor results are usually a product of bad process. Baking a cake will likely go poorly if you use salt rather than sugar but Pittsburgh is brazenly confident their recipe is correct and continues putting their salt-laden pastry in the oven that is the NFL season. The finished product in 2024 and going forward will be as expected.

The Steelers’ revolutionary, forward-thinking philosophies are ignoring the middle of the field, the area most targeted by the league’s most productive offenses, hiding their quarterback rather than weaponizing him and hoping they can grind out yards with their run game.

This philosophy is not only foolish; the Steelers are ill-equipped to run such a scheme.

Still, the Steelers can’t stop watching their Super Bowl videos from the 1970’s. They genuinely believe this is what’s missing from their franchise: they’re not being true to who they are.

Change is necessary in life. It is something you can resist and fight with all your tenacity but change will happen around you whether you want it or not. Evolving as a person, business or in this case, sports franchise, is not betraying your identity: it’s bettering it. It’s how you become more knowledgeable, wiser and such things spur creativity and innovation, two words the Pittsburgh Steelers are deathly afraid of.

Running in Reverse

Pittsburgh this past week decided to hire former Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator. The fan base and media was told the Black and Gold would be casting a wide net in search of a play caller with experience.

It’s genuinely hilarious a professional sports organization needs to mention they want someone with experience. They had to clarify that because the last two guys they hired had zero, repeat, zero play-calling experience at the NFL level. If you’re reading this, you had just as much experience calling plays in the National Football League as the Steelers’ last two offensive coordinators.

In a world where Starbucks is hesitant to hire a high school student with no work history, the Pittsburgh Steelers are willing to give anyone a look.

Except for this past month, apparently. The Steelers interviewed a whole three people for the job. Wide net indeed.

The media was told it would be an exhaustive process. Exhaustive for a geriatric, maybe. Most businesses could do three interviews in a day.

The Pittsburgh job is not appetizing because of the worldview the organization employs but it’s not so controversial or polarizing that only three people would be interested in it.

While teams in the NFL looking for coaching changes were interviewing potential suitors left and right, Pittsburgh put their vehicle in neutral and hoped someone might hop on. In a world of Ferraris and Maseratis, Pittsburgh was content to be a 1997 Subaru Forester.

Rooney talked about a sense of urgency with the team, how the franchise is tired of losing and eager to find success in the postseason but his words ring endlessly hollow when his actions look like this on a repeated basis.

The head coach responsible for this team’s mediocrity is still being paraded by the organization as a champion of success despite a resume of nearly a decade now with no notable accomplishments. It seems, and I mean this seriously and sincerely, that Mike Tomlin is more likely to be a victim of a shark attack than he is of ever being held accountable for his lacking job performance.

The stench of settling for average reeks throughout 100 Art Rooney Avenue.

Square Peg, Round Hole

There’s a lot of reasons to be skeptical of this hire. There’s much talk that Smith’s experience as the Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator was appealing to Pittsburgh. There, Smith ran the exact style of offense the Steelers want to run: ground-heavy.

To Smith’s credit, the Titans found a lot of success with him at the helm but there’s a clear and obvious difference between the 2019 Titans and the current iteration of the Steelers.

The Titans had Taylor Lewan at left tackle, a three-time Pro Bowler and Jack Conklin, a now two-time first-team All-Pro right tackle. Ben Jones, an established center in this league, manned the middle of the offensive line. Derrick Henry is a Hall of Fame running back, easily one of the best of his generation.

Compare all this to what the Steelers’ roster card currently looks like. They have Dan Moore at left tackle, a player Pittsburgh would be wise to let marinate on the bench. At right tackle, they have Broderick Jones, who will be going into his second year. Center Mason Cole was rated one of the worst centers in football by Pro Football Focus. Running back Najee Harris is regularly being outperformed by undrafted back Jaylen Warren (who is an objectively very good player, by the way.) Receivers George Pickens and Diontae Johnson demonstrated multiple times this season they don’t consider run blocking a priority.

Pittsburgh does not have the personnel to play bully ball. New general manager Omar Khan had an excellent first offseason. The drafting of Jones and signing of Isaac Seumalo, one of the league’s best guards, shows he recognizes some of the team’s faults but a general manager will be hard-pressed to rearrange this roster enough that they can overpower teams physically come fall. Pittsburgh for many years disregarded the trenches, especially the offensive line. They’ve recently rediscovered how important big men are to gridiron success but this hiring suggests they believe this is a problem they can fix overnight.

It is a problem that was created over the course of years of negligence. It will take years to correct.

Smith also demonstrated his own stubbornness as a coach in Atlanta. Despite drafting skill position players in the first round all three years of his tenure, including tight end Kyle Pitts in the top five, Smith rarely manufactured touches for his best players, preferring utilizing names like KhaDarel Hodge and Jonnu Smith. His failure to correctly manage personnel is the predominant reason he was fired. His fostering of young quarterback Desmond Ridder also left much to be desired, though it’s still too early to say how much of the blame resides with each party.

The chief concern with the Smith hiring is the mismatch of personnel and coaching approach but the second worry is Smith has only ever coached one way. Atlanta this past season lost to the Washington Commanders, the worst pass defense in football this year. Josh Dobbs, who hadn’t yet practiced with the Vikings after a trade days earlier, beat them. Smith also lost to Carolina, the worst team in football and gave up 37 points to the Chicago Bears, an offense similar to the Steelers in its ineptitude.

Throwing from behind is not something Arthur Smith does well. He shielded his quarterback in Atlanta, preferring to run the offense with the ball out of his passer’s hands. Eventually, every team needs their quarterback to make a few plays in order to win and when you demonstrate a regular reluctance to hand over the reins, it gives the quarterback less reps to learn and less confidence in himself to feed off of.

Steelers fans should be somewhat encouraged. The worst offensive coordinator in Steelers franchise history is no longer on the team. The offense should improve by default (it would have to perform Olympic gymnastics to somehow be worse) but those who believe all of Pittsburgh’s roster mismanagement and flawed approaches to the game will simply disappear are mistaken. This is an offense that will struggle to be average in today’s game.

The sad part of it? The organization is choosing this road.