Kyle Shanahan's decision to take the ball in overtime after winning the coin toss has come under considerable scrutiny in the days following the 49ers loss to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
Up until overtime rules were modified ahead of the 2022 season, taking the ball was a no-brainer, as the team who scored the first overtime touchdown would win. Taking the ball first and punching it in the end zone would have secured a win.
The rule changed to allow both teams a possession in overtime, thus changing the thought process for a lot of guys to want the ball second, knowing exactly what needs to be done to win the game.
..and in the event that both teams were to score a touchdown, or match field goals? Well we'll get to that.
Since the Chiefs win, a lot has been shared from the perspective of the Super Bowl champs, including our article yesterday stating that Andy Reid's squad was more prepared for overtime than the Niners.
However, Shanahan defended his decision after the game by sharing his perspective following the 25-22 loss on the game's biggest stage, and his answer is tells the story of just how much confidence he had in his offense.
He decided to take the ball first, essentially because he also wanted the ball third.
Allow him to explain.
"It's just something we talked about. None of us have a ton of experience with it, but we went through all the analytics and talked to those guys. We just thought it would be better."
"We wanted the ball third. If both teams matched and scored, we wanted to be the ones who had the chance to go win. We got that field goal, so knew we had to hold them to at least a field goal, and if we did, then we thought it was in our hands after that."
Really good staffs find a way to take the emotions of that moment out of the equation, and that's exactly what Shanahan and the Niners did when they decided on that approach in the days and weeks of prep leading up to the game.
It didn't work out, but as with a lot of things when it comes to coaching decisions, it doesn't mean it was the wrong decision - it just didn't work out the way they planned.
If they score a touchdown that first possession of overtime, and the Chiefs answer with a touchdown of their own, the situation plays out exactly how Shanahan envisioned after his conversation with his analytics folks, and we'd be here having a very different conversation today.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.