There's only one scapegoat for 49ers' Super Bowl loss, and it's not Kyle Shanahan

[Fired For A Reason]

Steve Wilks gets fired for a reason, usually poor performance
and losing.

On third-and-6 close to midfield during the Kansas City Chiefs’
final drive of overtime, San Francisco 49ers defensive
coordinator Steve Wilks decided it was the perfect time to call
a cover-zero blitz against Patrick Mahomes with a Super Bowl
championship on the line.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan recognized the absurdity of what
Wilks was about to do (Sunday night wasn’t the first time this
season that Wilks wanted to run a cover zero in a critical
situation either), calling a timeout to regroup.

However, Mahomes hit rookie Rashee Rice for a 13-yard gain on
the next play, converting the Chiefs’ eighth third-down attempt
of the game and keeping alive a drive that should have ended
three plays earlier when Wilks’ coverage scheme left a huge hole
on the right side for Mahomes to run off tackle for eight yards
and convert on fourth-and-1.

Matt Brownsword
@br0wnsw0rd
·
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this was where the Super Bowl was won and lost. Against an
inexperienced QB, Spags sent an extremely well-disguised blitz
on a 3rd and short. Steve Wilks called a blitz that a pre-teen
could have diagnosed & the Chiefs ran an obvious stick / cross
play.

Shanahan’s overriding of Wilks initial play call wasn’t the 54-
year-old coordinator’s only mental gaffe of the overtime period
either.

Twice, Mahomes burned the 49ers with his legs in critical
situations, converting on separate third-and-1 and fourth-and-1
plays, extending a game that likely should have ended with the
49ers hoisting the Lombardi Trophy had they been in the right
defensive alignment, had a QB spy, or simply didn't blitz.

§olomon§harpie
@sharptimist
·
Follow
4th and 1. Get the stop win the Super Bowl. Why are the
safeties 15 yards deep??? Steve Wilks calling prevent defense
on 4th and 1??
#niners

And unfortunately for Wilks, his defensive play-calling miscues
were magnified when it mattered most, negating the brilliant
game he called through the first three quarters.

During that span, the 49ers held Kansas City to 222 yards on 47
plays (4.7 yards per play) while forcing five punts, a fumble
and an interception and allowing one touchdown and two field
goals.

But in the fourth quarter and overtime, the Chiefs totaled 208
yards on 36 plays (5.7 yards per play), scoring a touchdown and
two fields goals on three drives, all of which were 11 plays or
longer after having just one such drive in their previous 10.

Sure, Shanahan could have ran the ball more than he did in the
second half and tried to control the time of possession more,
and he certainly should have done so earlier than the start of
the fourth quarter (SF called designed passes on 12 of its first
15 plays in the second half).

But it was Wilks’ play-calling that allowed the Chiefs to drive
64 yards down the field in 1:50 while converting twice on third
down — including a 22-yard completion to Travis Kelce on a third-
and-7 with 16 seconds left — before KC scored the tying field
goal with just three seconds left in regulation.

It was also Wilks’ play-calling that allowed the Chiefs to drive
75 yards in overtime while allowing a combined 40 yards on third-
and-6, third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 situations before yielding
the winning touchdown from inside the 5-yard line.

https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/theres_only_one_scapegoa
t_for_49ers_super_bowl_loss_and_its_not_kyle_shanahan/s1_13132_3
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