Kyle Shanahan is one of the most talked about coaches in the league. He is the architect of a modern offense that many have tried to replicate. However, some critics have pointed out that Shanahan has been able to have success with some of the best offensive weapons the league has to offer like Christian McCaffrey. One crazy stat shows a concerning 4th quarter trend for Shanahan.
Kyle Shanahan Is Not Good When Behind In The 4th Quarter
For any Shanahan-coached team, it is very important to not be losing going into the final quarter. When his team is trailing by 3+ points entering the 4th, he is an abysmal 1-31 and it gets worse. If the team is trailing by 8+ points, the record is 0-37. This is a wild stat considering how much success Shanahan has had with the San Francisco 49ers. What this means is that his team has the lead a lot and is able to coast to wins or hold off comeback bids. What the team is not good at is rallying when they are behind.
Does This Stat Mean Anything?
Some stats are fun but ultimately mean nothing. What does this tell us about Shanahan? First, it tells us that he has a very good script to grind teams out and kill the clock. The offense is able to put a lot of pressure on teams when they are ahead and when the defense can pin their ears back and come for the quarterback, they are devastating. However, this might suggest a difficulty in coaching when behind. It changes the playcalling. The entire playbook isn’t open when you are down by seven with 15 minutes left. This is a concerning trend for a coach that so many people think highly of.
Will Kyle Shanahan be able to shake the 4th quarter comeback demons? This stat will likely be talked about throughout the rest of the season especially if the team goes into the final quarter behind. Hopefully, this is a stat that means nothing and the 49ers are finally able to make another trip to the Super Bowl. Or they just have to hope they never trail at the end of the 3rd quarter.
