© Kyle Terada | 2018 Oct 7
As has become all too common during the Kyle Shanahan era, the 49ers lost another close game on Monday night, one they had a very good chance of winning. A key moment took place late in fourth quarter with the game tied at 30, when Kyle Shanahan called a pass on third-and-3 from the Green Bay 46 yard-line, with just 1:13 remaining and the Packers without a time out.
The call backfired, with Green Bay’s all-out blitz forcing a rushed throw from C.J. Beathard, which was intercepted at the Packers’ 10 yard-line. You know what happened from there: Aaron Rodgers showed why he’s the best quarterback in the NFL, driving his team down for a game-winning field goal as time expired.
KNBR’s Tom Tolbert didn’t hate the call, but thought the 49ers should’ve run the ball. Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young agreed, and said that he’d like to see Shanahan set his aggressive tendencies aside in certain situations.
“If we go back to the Atlanta Super Bowl and it was in their pocket, and they had to do things, some egregious things to lose the football game,” Young said. “So I was tough on Kyle after that game because to me I know what he always tells everybody: ‘We’re going to be aggressive, we’re going to be aggressive.’ I do love that, his dad was that way, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to take the odds too.
“In other words, I’m aggressive, but I’m also going to make sure at the end of a game, I’m going to do what you just described. I might give 40 seconds for one-legged Aaron Rodgers to go down with no timeouts and try to win it, but I’m not going to give him another 30 (seconds)…Once you get all-out blitzed he only has one shot and that’s the long ball. I’m sure that’s not what they intended to have happen but that’s why you want to take the risk out of it.
“Look, I think Kyle has proven to be that in that situation, too bad for you, we’re going for it. And to err on that side, to your point, I’d rather err to that, but if anything as he gets a little older I would love to see in that spot, where there’s a little bit more of rationalization around like a tie and getting to overtime.”
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Young on Shanahan, start from 9:20.