Shanahan won’t hide from epic Falcons collapse
How do you troll an entire state with just three little numbers?
Just say “28-3” to any Atlanta Falcons fan, and watch them twitch.
That score is shorthand for the biggest choke job in Super Bowl history.
Three years ago, the Falcons led the New England Patriots 28-3, with just 18 minutes left in the
NFL’s title game. ESPN estimated that the Patriots had just a 1-in-300 chance of coming back to win.
And yet, inexplicably they did, 34-28 in overtime.
In the three years since, current 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan deservedly has gotten much of the blame. Shanahan was the Falcons’ offensive coordinator in that game and made a series of boneheaded play calls that directly cost the Falcons a championship.
The most egregious: Calling a pass play, up eight, on second-and-11 at the Patriots’ 23 with less than four minutes left. Simply kneeling twice and kicking a field goal probably would have sealed the game.
Instead, Shanahan went for the kill, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was sacked and it remained a one-score game.
Three years later, Shanahan has a chance to right that wrong. And he’s not ducking from the reckless in-game decisions that will forever be part of his legacy.
“I don’t think there’s anything to run away from,” Shanahan said this week, ahead of Sunday’s game against the Chiefs. “I’m very proud of that year and I was proud of our team in Atlanta, I was very proud of our players. I thought we played a pretty darn good game. We went up 28-3 in the [second half] and we all know that we did not play well in the fourth, I did not coach well. But I’m not going to run from that.
“I’m very disappointed losing a 28-3 game,” Shananan continued. “That was very hard on our entire team. I understand perception-wise how much I have to take of that. But I think I can deal with that. I’ve been able to. I think knowing that has made me a little bit stronger. You don’t always know what you can deal with. I think it’s harder for people who love me, like my wife and family members, because they’re very defensive of it. I was involved in the game. I know exactly what happened on every single play. I know I can live with that. I’m proud of a lot of that stuff, a lot of that year. I would do it all over again — maybe a play or so I would call differently — but I’d do it all over again. I feel a lot stronger and better from it.”
Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy — and his inability to land a head coaching job — has become a symbol of all that’s wrong with the
NFL’s terrible history of empowering and promoting candidates of color.
But he had no ill will, or at least no ill words, for the Dolphins, who interviewed Bieniemy for their vacancy last offseason before hiring Brian Flores. Bieniemy told the Miami Herald this week he is “not at all” upset with what happened during the Dolphins’ selection process, saying he had “a great meeting” with Stephen Ross and Chris Grier.
“They did a heck of a job hiring Brian Flores,” Bieniemy said. “I thought Brian Flores and his staff did a hell of a job this season.
“And hats off to them. Without them we probably wouldn’t be sitting in this situation. Because they opened up the door for us. And I thought they’ve done a heck of a job. Hats off to him and his entire staff.”
Adam H. Beasley: 305-376-2387, @AdamHBeasley