Kyle Shanahan went conservative before halftime of the Super Bowl on Sunday, leaving many confused.
The game was tied at 10 and the San Francisco 49ers got the ball at their 20 with 59 seconds left in the first half following a Kansas City punt that went into the end zone.
Rather than try to drive for some points before halftime, Shanahan seemed to show he was content with the score. The 49ers handed the ball off to Raheem Mostert to begin the possession and declined to call one of their three timeouts. There were only 26 seconds left in the half by the time the 49ers ran their next play, which was another run. The Chiefs decided to call a timeout after that.
It wasn’t until third down that San Francisco tried a pass to get into field goal range. Their efforts were close, but George Kittle was called for offensive pass interference, erasing a long gain.
Both teams had three timeouts left, so Shanahan probably wanted to avoid going three-and-out and giving the ball back to KC with enough time to add points. That strategy may make it tougher for the Chiefs, but it also means San Francisco wasn’t really playing to add a touchdown.
