Kyle Shanahan Assesses his Decisions in the 49ers' Loss to the Vikings

At the end of the 49ers' 23-17 loss to the Vikings, Kyle Shanahan essentially ran out the clock on himself.

Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan chats with a reporter before a game against the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images / David Gonzales-Imagn Images

At the end of the 49ers' 23-17 loss to the Vikings, Kyle Shanahan essentially ran out the clock on himself.

The 49ers had the ball in field goal range with no timeouts and more than 2 minutes left. Rather than kick a field or take shots into the end zone, Kyle Shanahan called short passes that kept the clock moving, then kicked a field goal anyway, attempted an onside kick, didn't recover it and lost.

On Monday, I asked Kyle Shanahan about his decisions in that moment. Here's what he said:

ME: When you look back on the final drive of the game, how you managed the clock at the end, would you have taken a shot into the end zone in retrospect?

SHANAHAN: “You don't just call plays to say, take a shot into the end zone or check it down. It kind of depends what the defense is doing and they played so much soft Tampa two having a two score lead. It was tough to get a shot into the end zone. It would've led to an interception if you just force it in there. The main thing was getting stuck in that fourth down. Really wish we would've moved the chains down there. Andrew Van Ginkel made a hell of a play tipping it, and Deebo went to try to block it out, knock it out, unfortunately it stuck in his stomach and he caught it. And then, we weren't going to go for it on fourth and eight. We knew our best chance there was to kick the field goal and try an onside kick at the end.”

MY TAKE: Shanahan's answer is bogus. On first and 10 from the Vikings 13 yard line, Brandon Aiyuk was one on one running a fade route against Vikings cornerback Stephone Gilmore. Advantage: 49ers. Worst-case scenario, the pass would have been incomplete and the clock would have stopped. Instead, Purdy completed a two-yard pass to Deebo Samuel who injured his calf on the play and now will miss the next two plays.

Oops.

Two plays later, Purdy nearly was intercepted attempting a screen pass to Deebo Samuel. Throwing the ball into the end zone couldn't have been any more dangerous.