The San Francisco 49ers kicked off their campaign with a convincing 30-7 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Niners mounted an early lead, and they just never looked back.
Despite the lopsided scoreline, however, head coach Kyle Shanahan decided to keep his key players in the game. More than a few folks out there considered it a risky decision from the San Francisco shot-caller, especially considering the slew of injuries the league has dealt with so early in the season.
San Francisco 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan Explains Decision
Shanahan was asked about this decision on Wednesday as he faced the press after practice. The 49ers coach gave a pretty straightforward explanation:
“You pull guys when you think the game’s over and you do that off of experience and we didn’t think the game was over when it’s at that point,” Shanahan said, via Mike Florio of PFT. “Now, sometime in that drive because it took so long, we debated whether to take them out before that drive or not. We’d been in that situation before, we decided not to.”
Apparently, not even a 20-point lead late in the fourth quarter was enough to convince Shanahan and his coaching staff that this game was beyond reach.
Kyle Shanahan Reflects on Past Experience
Shanahan has good reason to be a bit paranoid. After all, Sunday’s game would not have been the first time the Niners gave up a seemingly insurmountable lead late in the game.
The 43-year-old coach looked back on a similar incident a couple of years ago. The Niners faced off against the Detroit Lions in what was their season opener as well. San Francisco had a 24-point advantage deep in the final period only for the Lions to come roaring back:
“That’s huge,” Shanahan said. “That happened to us personally. It was I think 41 to 17 with a 1:58 left. And they had the ball with 17 seconds, 20 yards away, down seven points. . . . That’s a personal situation, but I see it happen a lot of places.”
Ultimately, the 49ers were able to hold on for the win, but it wasn’t until Detroit forced overtime in what could have been a truly disastrous loss for San Francisco. Clearly, Kyle Shanahan has learned his lesson, and he just wasn’t risking anything against the Steelers last Sunday.
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