Falcons coach praises Shanahan’s play-calling
SANTA CLARA >> Kyle Shanahan coaches next against the team he sabotaged from a Super Bowl victory.
Oh, perhaps that is a bit strong.
Indeed it is, as testified by Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Quinn. Shanahan was the Falcons offensive coordinator when the 2016 Falcons infamously blew a 28-3 lead and lost to the New England Patriots 3428 in overtime of Super Bowl LI.
“There’s always criticism after the fact,” Quinn added. “But he made a hell of a lot of good calls, too. If there’s one or two he’d like to
have back, that’s in any game. You’d love to have every call rip and go like you want. All of it you learn from, and then you don’t get to really apply it until you’re in that moment again.”
Shanahan, who turns 40 on
Saturday, has turned the 49ers from NFL doormat to the NFC’s Super Bowl frontrunner. They take an 11-2 record into Sunday’s home game against the Falcons (4-9).
Rather than rehash their Super Bowl nightmare, Shanahan and Quinn traded compliments in their respective media sessions Wednesday. They didn’t know much of each other —
outside of which systems they specialized in, which other coaches spoke highly of them — until Shanahan arrived in Atlanta in 2015 once he bailed on the Cleveland Browns.
Might Sunday’s reunion aside lead to another? Quinn’s job has looked doomed since Atlanta’s 1-7 start, and Shanahan may need a new defensive coordinator if Robert Saleh lands a head-coaching job. Perhaps more likely, Shanahan promotes from within, and Quinn lands another head coaching role.
No such talk permeated Wednesday’s press briefings. Rather, the coaches doled out mutual respect then expressed genuine appreciation for each other. “Dan and I were different personality wise,” Shanahan said of their 2015 start. “He’s very upbeat and positive. I was focused on being coordinator and the task at hand.”
Once Shanahan took over the 49ers, he followed Quinn’s lead in keeping players loose, emphasizing open communication and even incorporating Navy SEALs into the team’s inner-circle.
“There are definitely some similarities ... and he added stuff on his own, like emphasizing the importance of the ball and not turning it over,” said Ben Garland, a former Falcons lineman who will make his starting debut as the 49ers center Sunday.
Shanahan watched film of the second-half collapse the day after the Super Bowl, and when he spoke a couple weeks later at the NFL combine about potential regrets, he said: “One thing I learned from it is I hope that opportunity comes again, because it’s a fun thing to be a part of. It makes you realize how special it is to get a win there.”
Now Shanahan is, at most, five wins away from reaching the Super Bowl stage in Miami on Feb. 2 — assuming they win their final three regular-season games to land the NFC’s No. 1 seed, then take a wild-card bye into a swift playoff run.
Shanahan’s secondguessing of play calls only goes so far, from that Super Bowl loss to a Dec. 1 defeat at Baltimore where he made a questionable fourth-and-1 pass call that backfired. He doesn’t apologize for his rationale, just the result.
“He’s always had a bold and aggressive nature to make plays, and a lot of that, I respect, comes from his preparation,” Quinn added.
• D.J. Jones’ ankle injury is looking like a season-ender, and that may prompt the 49ers to activate Kentavius Street off injured reserve this week, Shanahan said. Another in-house option is to summon Kevin Givens from the practice squad. Sheldon Day, Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner could play nose tackle in a pinch, as could Jullian Taylor, who’s likely out another week or two with an elbow injury.
“He’s irreplaceable. D.J. is explosive, he can really hurt you in the run game and obviously you saw his pass-rush skills, he just goes right through people,” Buckner said. “He’s going to be really missed. Everybody has to kick up their game a notch.”
The 49ers have 14 players on injured reserve, and since November, they’ve lost linebacker Kwon Alexander, defensive ends Ronald Blair and Damontre Moore, and, in this week’s IR moves, wide receiver Marquise Goodwin and center Weston Richburg. Jones, Taylor, cornerbacks Richard Sherman (hamstring) and K’Waun Williams (concussion), defensive end Dee Ford (hamstring) and strong safety Jaquiski Tartt (ribs) did not practice Wednesday.