Is it acceptable for the 49ers to lose to Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl?

Kyle Shanahan promptly made note of the fact that he has only lost to two of the greatest quarterbacks in history, Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes, to the media after blowing his third Super Bowl opportunity despite leading by a wide margin.

Is that a good enough reason for Shanahan to lose? He lost to two of the greatest players ever, so should we give him a break?

Not at all. Shanahan had the opportunity to grab both of them first. In 2020, he had the option to sign Tom Brady, but he didn’t want him. In 2017, he could have drafted Patrick Mahomes, but he didn’t scout him. He felt they were lacking in quality.

Because Shanahan could be Mahomes’ coach if he had any vision, it is his fault that he has had to play against Mahomes twice in the Super Bowl.

And in all three of those games, Shanahan held sizable leads despite falling short against two of the G.O.A.T.S. When trailing by at least 10 points at any point during the game, the rest of the league is 4-49 in Super Bowls; teams facing Shanahan are 3-0 in such situation. It implies that he’s making a huge mistake in the second part of his biggest games to date.

To be honest, he lost this last Super Bowl when leading and calling eight passes in nine plays during the third quarter. Despite the 49ers intercepting Mahomes on the opening play of the third quarter, that allowed the Chiefs to immediately reenter the game.

Shanahan calling those plays had nothing to do with Mahomes. Shanahan was to blame for that.