National Football League

Kyle Shanahan 'didn't cover' OT rules with 49ers players before Super Bowl

Updated Feb. 13, 2024 6:12 p.m. ET

Two days after the 49ers fell short in Super Bowl LVIII, Kyle Shanahan is still facing scrutiny for his decision to take the ball first in overtime. With multiple 49ers admitting they were not clear what the OT playoff rules were — they have been amended a couple times in recent years — Shanahan revealed Tuesday that he did not discuss the latest iteration with his team heading into the game.

"I didn't cover it in meeting on a Super Bowl week," Shanahan said, while noting he asked his position coaches to remind the players what the new rules were during the OT coin toss. "I don't think that changes anything."

Shanahan then reiterated that he'd already prepared for the scenario before the game with the club's analytics department, which preferred the idea of having the ball third should the two teams still be tied after their initial possessions.

"I take into account what they [analytics] say, what they think is right, and I go off my gut in the heat of battle," he said. "I felt like what type of game it was did match what they felt was the best way to do. It did seem more like a field goal game."

49ers general manager John Lynch soon interjected, reminding that the Chiefs' offense had just closed out regulation with an 11-play drive. Thus, the choice was made to not put the Niners' defense back on the field.

It used to be one of the easiest decisions in football: If you win the toss in overtime, you take the ball.

The rules are different now, however, and that choice by San Francisco in the Super Bowl will be debated all offseason.

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The 49ers took the ball and drove for a field goal, then lost 25-22 when Patrick Mahomes guided Kansas City 75 yards the other way for the winning touchdown Sunday night. San Francisco's drive ended when the 49ers kicked a field goal on fourth-and-4 from the 9.

If they'd known three points wouldn't be good enough, they could have gone for a touchdown in that spot.

"That's something we talked about," Shanahan said after the game. "None of us have a ton of experience of it."

For many years, overtime ended as soon as one team scored. Then the rule was altered so both teams could possess the ball — unless the first team on offense scored a touchdown. In that case, the game would end on that TD, and that's what happened when New England beat Atlanta 34-28 in Super Bowl 51.

An even more recent rule change mandated that in the postseason, both teams can possess the ball even if the first offensive team scores a touchdown. Now, NFL playoff overtime even more closely resembles the college OT format, where teams alternate possessions. And in college, teams often like to have the ball second because they'll have a better sense of what they need on their drive.

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All the changes, particularly the fact that the rules are different in the playoffs, can be confusing. 49ers players admitted that they didn't even know the rules, according to ESPN.

"I didn't even know about the new playoff overtime rule, so it was a surprise to me," Niners defensive lineman Arik Armstead said. "I didn't even really know what was going on in terms of that."

"You know what? I didn't even realize the playoff rules were different in overtime," Kyle Juszczyk said. "I assume you just want the ball to score a touchdown and win. I guess that's not the case. I don't totally know the strategy there. We hadn't talked about it, no."

After the 49ers took a 22-19 lead, Kansas City took advantage of going second, as the trailing Chiefs had no choice but to go for it on fourth-and-1 from their own 34. They converted and eventually reached the end zone on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes to Mecole Hardman.

"There's two ways: You kick it off or you receive it," Kansas City coach Andy Reid said. "I'm not sure there's a right answer, necessarily. Ours ended up being the right one. That's what we felt was the right thing to do."

Reid's comments suggest there's no obvious consensus among coaches about what to do, but if the Chiefs had won the toss, they were prepared to kick off and play defense first.

"We talked for two weeks about new overtime rules," defensive tackle Chris Jones said. "Give the ball to the opponent. If we score, we go for 2."

One defense of San Francisco's decision to take the ball involves what happens if the game is still tied after both teams have had a possession. Then, the game DOES become sudden death — so there's a clear potential edge in having the ball third. If the game was still tied after the first two possessions, the 49ers could have gotten the ball and any score would have won it.

But overtime never made it that far.

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"We went through all the analytics and talked to those guys," Shanahan said. "We wanted the ball third. If both teams matched and scored, we wanted to be the ones with a chance to go win."

Overtime can reach a third possession if each team kicks a field goal.

"We got that field goal, so we knew we had to hold them to at least a field goal," Shanahan said. "And if we did, we thought the game was in our hands after that"

If each team scores a touchdown, then as Jones said, the second team could simply go for a 2-point conversion to prevent its opponent from getting the ball again.

It turned out Kansas City didn't have to worry about any conversion because once the 49ers settled for a short field goal, the touchdown by the Chiefs won the game.

And Jones was a big reason it worked out that way. He came through unblocked on San Francisco's last offensive play, forcing an incompletion that set up a short field goal by Jake Moody.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.