Kudos to the San Francisco 49ers for pulling off two back-to-back fourth-quarter comebacks this season, wearing down the roster at a crucial juncture, and seeing their inexperienced quarterback shake off what appeared to be a month-long confidence crisis that began on Christmas Eve against the Baltimore Ravens.
For Kyle Shanahan’s all-star team facing the Chiefs in the Big Game, it’s all or nothing as San Francisco looks to win another Lombardi Trophy.
The prize? More devils to defeat. a bigger platform so that everyone can see together how merciless the wind is being to this superteam and its head coach. Any team that advances to the Super Bowl believes it must triumph. However, the 49ers are in a different league. If they don’t arrive with their aggregate tension like a violin string, it will be a small miracle.
Let’s be sincere. How many of us were researching Kyle Shanahan’s prior remarks regarding Kirk Cousins during the half, wondering how soon he could restructure this team for another run in 2024 with a more seasoned quarterback? How many of us were speculating about whether Shanahan would ever advance from being the creator of contemporary offensive evolutions to becoming the person behind a Lombardi Trophy that sits in the team’s foyer?
Teams can celebrate their successes for a full day utilizing the coaching platitude diary before turning their attention to the next job. But how many brains in Santa Clara have already been preoccupied with the notion that if the 49ers can’t defeat a team that defeated them in the Super Bowl just a few years ago, then all of this effort, all of this advancement, all of this creativity, all of this roster turnover, and all of this enormous boombox-worthy hype will be for naught?
In the recent history of the Super Bowl, it’s one of the more unforgettable losing locker rooms. Shanahan was seated alone himself in an unadorned cinder block office that had less space available than a Tokyo subway car. The doors were secured by Mike Shanahan and John Lynch. To help with the agony, a couple Coronas were tossed about.
An All-Star squad that was no longer able to play together was disintegrating in that gloomy annex. Joe Staley was bidding adieu. To get some draft money, DeForest Buckner was being forced onto the trade block. It was Emmanuel Sanders in route to New Orleans.
