The 2024 Super Bowl continues to give a lot to talk about, and the criticism towards Kyle Shanahan doesn’t seem to stop. Former NFL MVP Cam Newton, for instance, has recently called out the San Francisco 49ers‘ play calling while defending quarterback Brock Purdy.
“First off, let’s say this. Brock Purdy did not have a bad game,” Newton said on his ‘4th and 1’ podcast, via SB Nation. “To that point, field goal versus touchdown, that’s not Brock Purdy. Why the f— did they receive the ball first? It was Tony Romo who mentioned this — when you know what you have to get, now you have four downs to get it, not three.”
Newton was talking about the 49ers’ controversial decision to receive the ball in overtime instead of kicking it. San Francisco ended up settling for a field goal in a fourth down situation, letting the Chiefs play their possession knowing how many points they needed to win the game. “The 49ers, they were just trying to get points,” Newton said. “And that is not Brock Purdy’s fault, that’s bad coaching. There was too many people who was exposed. They didn’t know the real rules of overtime.”
Shanahan has been questioned for opting to take the ball, and it only got worse when 49ers players admitted not knowing the new overtime rules. Newton once controversially labeled Purdy as a ‘game manager’, but now says the second-year QB did nothing wrong in the big game.
“We’re not understanding how serious this is. The fact that they weren’t addressed to what the rules were, that’s Steve Wilks, that’s Shanahan, that’s John Lynch, that’s the 49ers organization, and that’s not Brock Purdy’s fault,” Newton added about Purdy, who completed 23 of 38 passes for 255 yards and a touchdown. “He played good enough for his team to win. He made plays and he made plays in times of need as well.”
Kyle Shanahan wanted chance to win in sudden death scenario
Now that the 49ers lost, it’s easy to blame Shanahan. But the 49ers head coach defended his decision to receive first, explaining he wanted San Francisco to have possession in case the game was still tied after both teams had the ball.
In that scenario, the 49ers would have had the chance to win the game with the third possession. Patrick Mahomes later revealed the Chiefs would have tried to win the game before San Francisco could get the ball back, though.
Either way, the Niners lost because they failed to get the job done both in offense and defense. With the ball, they only got to score three points. Without it, they were unable to stop Mahomes, who orchestrated a 75-yard drive to win the game and break the Niners’ hearts in Las Vegas.