Is 49ers' Kyle Shanahan haunted by 28-3 Super Bowl debacle?

For Monday's edition of the "Football Morning in America" column, NBC Sports' Peter King asked San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan if he's still "haunted" by the fact that the Atlanta Falcons famously blew a 28-3 lead over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI in February 2017 when Shanahan served at Atlanta's offensive coordinator. 

"No," Shanahan directly responded. "It hurts. It doesn’t kill you. You understand what happened. You understand you can handle it. You can take it. 'Haunted' is just such the wrong word. It makes you stronger, really. But, you know, if you tell me before that game you’re going to blow a 28-3 lead and lose, I’d be like, 'Do I ever come out of my room again?' You realize, this is sports. Any one of 20 different plays would’ve changed that game." 

Of course, Super Bowl LI isn't the only heartbreak Shanahan has endured during his coaching career. In February 2020, his 49ers held a 20-10 lead midway through the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LIV but ultimately lost that game to the Kansas City Chiefs 31-20. 

Shanahan and company will attempt to get revenge against the Chiefs this coming Sunday. 

"The harder one was the Kansas City game, personally," Shanahan said about comparing the events of Super Bowl LI and Super Bowl LIV. "As you get older and you go through the experience, you just…you try to control everything. You realize you can’t. You also realize you can handle it. And you realize how much you love it." 

As of early Monday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the 49ers as two-point favorites versus the Chiefs. San Francisco has remained a consistent betting favorite since conference championship Sunday. 

"What does get you choked up is how close you get with people when you go on a playoff run, a Super Bowl run. You’ll remember it forever—all the shared sacrifice," Shanahan added. "When you lose, and you feel the heartbreak, you get to see how you handle it, how you react, how you handle the pressure the next time. And, oh my gosh, you realize, 'I am this. I can do this.' You get to go through something you love, something that’s more important in life than almost anything. That’s what I learned about football growing up, but it only gets stronger as I get older." 

Things often change quickly in the NFL, so Shanahan may never again have as good a chance to become a Super Bowl champion head coach as he will at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on the second Sunday of February.