Look, I’m going to be as up front with this as possible: I think Tom Brady deserves the hate he’s received lately. I did not think that before this season. I am not among those who dislike him because he’s good. He’s better than good, he’s fantastic. The NFL needs fantastic players and I don’t begrudge him for that. But when he said that line about wondering if something bad is happening in the world and he just tries to stay positive, I lost all respect.
So it sure did suck to see him win another Super Bowl yesterday. It sucked to see the Atlanta Falcons give up such a big lead to the New England Patriots, and it sucks that Kyle Shanahan will be joining the San Francisco 49ers on the heels of that.
But I do think Shanahan, in all, called a good game. I think the turning point was when Matt Ryan, a veteran with no excuse for his dumb mistake, held onto the ball too long and took a bad sack. And then, of course, there was holding right after that. The game changed and it was out of Shanahan’s hands.
But I thought, prior to that, that he called a varied, successful game. The Falcons offense was unpredictable and effective. It’s a shame things got away from them.
And now it’s time to move on. Let’s get to your links.
Ex-49ers QBs Young, Diler question Shanahan’s play-calling (Branch)
49ers can finally hire Kyle Shanahan after Falcons dramatic Super Bowl loss (Biderman)
49ers can hire Kyle Shanahan on heels of devastating loss (Branch)
New 49ers defensive coordinator candidates emerge (Biderman)
Schaub, Cousins, Garoppolo on Shanahan’s wishlist (NFL)
Lynch’s work takes mind away from Hall of Fame angst (Maiocco)