If Shanahan just had a QB with more ice in their veins the 49ers would have accumulated more points in the 4th to seal the deal
It is very hard to stop a special talent like PM in the 4th. And probably the only way to beat that is to keep scoring yourself
Jimmy G choked in the 4th
The one thing I will question Shanahan though is the dumb defer at the coin toss. What the heck was that? What team in their right mind would try that
This literally happens all the time in the NFL. Belichick does it like 95% of the time.
what is the reasoning behind this?
Don't you want to start the game with the lead? (potentially)
I have also never been a fan also of "tiring out" your D core.
The reasoning is that, if you clock manage properly, and most pro coaches do, that it's very easy to make it so teams have an equal number of possessions in a half. If teams have the same amount of possessions in a half, then if you defer you get the ball to end the half and once again to start the half. If you score on those two possessions, you can turn around the momentum of a game or seize control of it or begin the blowout of a game.
As stated, Belichick was really the first to do this and master it. This little score on both sides of the half became, very much, a Patriot "thing" that help them win games and now it is copied throughout football....all because the greatest coach in football history figured out how best to use that technique.