Kyle Shanahan has done an incredible coaching job this season with the San Francisco 49ers. His best performance may have come last night against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round, when he guided the team to a 23-19 upset win on the road. Now, the 49ers prepare to face the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Divisional Round, once again on the road as heavy underdogs.
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In reaction to the win, Ryan Clark of ESPN shared a heap of praise for Shanahan. Having watched the team all season, Clark said he is stunned by how far the Niners have come and called it the best year he has ever seen from a head honcho.
“Strategically and schematically, it’s the greatest year I’ve ever seen a play caller have,” Clark said on First Take. “This team is undermanned. There’s no Fred Warner, no Nick Bosa. You’re playing with your sixth and seventh linebackers, playing with backups on the back end. To go into Philadelphia and win that game, it’s the greatest coaching night of the entire season.”
It really can’t be overstated. The 49ers had no business winning last night in Philadelphia. Yet they kept pounding and grinding away, and eventually found themselves with a late lead. That put the onus on Jalen Hurts to be clutch, and he could not get it done.
Later on, in response to Clark’s statement, Cam Newton jumped in and spoke about how Shanahan and the 49ers have mastered the art of navigating “what-if” circumstances this season.
“What Kyle Shanahan has done has put on a masterclass to say battling versus the ‘What-ifs.’ What if your superstar linebacker gets injured? What if your superstar quarterback gets injured? What if these particular individuals get injured?” Newton began, before adding,
“That whole team has really embodied the whole organization with John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan. It exudes their whole DNA. Calm, cool, and collected, and handling the what-ifs.”
It was an excellent point made by the former league MVP. Shanahan has taken the storm of this season head-on and weathered it well. Without Fred Warner, Nick Bosa, Brandon Aiyuk, and now George Kittle at various points, he’s had to duct tape the team together weekly. Despite the hardships, the Niners still finished 12-5 and are now headed to the NFC Divisional Round.
Shanahan has been doing this for years and has never received the credit he deserves. He very well may be the best coach in the NFL, and it feels like only a matter of time before he wins a Super Bowl. Surprisingly, though, he has never won a Coach of the Year award.
In his 9 years with the 49ers, Shanahan has gone 82-67. In the playoffs, he is 9-4. Like his father, Mike Shanahan, Kyle has become one of the best offensive play-callers in the NFL. Nearly every season, the Niners field a top-10 offense. It has almost become the baseline for him, with the ceiling of being the league’s best.
It’ll be interesting to see if Shanahan and the 49ers can carry that momentum into their matchup against the Seahawks. Sam Darnold has not always played well in big games, so there is at least a chance. The concern, however, is that Seattle’s defense just shut down San Francisco a week ago, holding them to three points.
