Analytics guru defends 49ers' Kyle Shanahan for overtime decision

Much has been made over the past week about San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan wanting possession of the football for the first drive of overtime in the Super Bowl.

Mike McRoberts of Championship Analytics consults for five NFL teams and recently spoke with NBC Sports' Peter King about whether or not Shanahan made the right call before Kansas City answered a San Francisco field goal with a walk-off touchdown in the extra period. 

"I thought it was almost a toss-up," McRoberts explained. "Gun to my head, I would have done what Kyle did. Whoever designed this rule did a good job, because the outcome should not be determined by the coin flip, and each team gets at least one full possession. It’s not gimmicky at all." 

Shanahan noted shortly after the defeat against the Chiefs that the NFL's new rules for playoff games that give both teams at least one chance to possess the ball in overtime left him wanting the so-called "sudden-death advantage." If the clubs were tied after the period's first two drives, Shanahan wanted the first crack at sudden death.

However, some pointed out that Kansas City receiving the second possession of overtime gave quarterback Patrick Mahomes the benefit of knowing ending the drive without points would've resulted in a loss. 

In his latest "Football Morning in America" column, King wrote that the 49ers defense was "gassed" and needed a breather after it "played 39 snaps in the second half and had recently left the field after an 11-play KC drive to tie the game with three seconds left in regulation." King also shared that Mahomes hadn’t even attempted a two-point conversion in Kansas City's last 108 quarters of meaningful football.

Nevertheless, noteworthy members of the NFL community such as former Carolina Panthers star quarterback and one-time Most Valuable Player Cam Newton have bashed Shanahan for taking the ball first in overtime on Feb. 11. While one can understand points offered by individuals such as Newton, it shouldn't be forgotten that Shanahan's defense was a stop on a 4th-and-1 situation away from clinching a Super Bowl championship for the organization.