When Kyle Shanahan spoke to reporters last week, the San Francisco 49ers head coach said he had no regrets about the way he called or managed the game plan in Super Bowl LIV. Some feel that a different strategy could have been used in the closing minutes of the first half, but Shanahan defended his decision not to use a timeout and preserve the game clock before getting the football back for one last drive before halftime.
Fullback Kyle Juszczyk joined Good Morning Football on Friday and was asked if he has any regrets from the heartbreaking loss.
"You always feel like you can execute better," Juszczyk responded. "We had a number of pre-snap penalties, which is unlike us. We're a team that takes pride in all our pre-snap motions, shifts, all that kind of stuff. For us not to be on our Ps and Qs for that, in the Super Bowl, in the biggest stage was a little disappointing.
"But other than that, you always feel like you can execute better, and there are a few plays left out on the field that we think we could have made. But I would never second-guess anything that Kyle called. I think he called a phenomenal game, and really, it was just up to us to execute it."
Shanahan wasn't the only one who received criticism for the Super Bowl LIV collapse that led to the Kansas City Chiefs, not the 49ers, ending up as champions.
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo completed just three of his 11 passes for 36 yards, an interception, and a passer rating of 2.8 in the fourth quarter. During that time, the Chiefs scored 21 unanswered points, erasing a 10-point 49ers lead.
"Honestly, that's been one of the most frustrating parts of the whole loss is seeing the criticism of Kyle and of Jimmy," Juszczyk said. "Those are two guys that have absolutely nothing to prove to the rest of the guys in the locker room. We full-heartedly support these guys and know what they can do.
"You look at Jimmy, people that are stats guys, 4,000 yards passing, better than a two-to-one touchdown to interception ratio, 70 percent completion. Like, you just look at that, that's a phenomenal quarterback. Anybody's going to sign up for that early in the season. But for whatever reason, Jimmy just seems to get this extra criticism, this extra heat. But I think at one point in the game, he's 19-for-22, 180 yards, and a touchdown.
"That's football. You just change one or two things in a game, and the whole dialogue changes, the whole narrative."