There isn’t a practice situation or an inspirational speech that can prepare the 49ers for what they have faced in recent weeks. There is, however, an experience.
The biggest one in football, too.
All the 49ers were missing from Super Bowl LIV was their ability to close the game. When San Francisco needed Mariano Rivera, they got the worst version of Gary Lavelle and lost 31-20 after blowing a big lead. Now two years later, they’re using that heartbreak to their advantage.
“I think players and coaches, usually you should get better through experiences that you have in situations and that was a pretty big one for us there in the Super Bowl,” coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday to reporters. “I’ve had, not just in those games, but you have those a ton the more you coach. But those ones when you get that close to something, those are the ones that really stick out in your mind forever.
“So I know that was a big deal for all our players, a big deal for me, but every time we’re in a game we talk about it, and not just the Super Bowl, about how quickly all these things can change and how quick a game can get out of hand.”
The 49ers went into the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl two years ago leading 20-10. They held that lead with just over six minutes to go. They wound up losing 31-20 after allowing 21 unanswered points to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
A long list of key players and coaches still remain from that heartbreaking loss. Going into Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the Los Angeles Rams, Shanahan and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo both are 4-1 in the playoffs with the 49ers. Tight end George Kittle and receiver/running back/playground phenom Deebo Samuel have been there for all five playoff games, linebacker Fred Warner continues to be the leader of the defense and Nick Bosa ranks second in franchise history with 6.5 sacks in only five games.
Of course the Super Bowl and playoff experience is second to none, but Shanahan pinpoints the 49ers’ Week 1 win against the lowly Detroit Lions this season as a game they should never forget.
“You go back to our first game this year with Detroit and being up 41-17 with a 1:58 left, and we win by eight points and they have the ball at the end,” Shanahan said. “I think we won by eight, but they had it with the last possession. And so the more experience you get on that, you start to realize you should never be comfortable.”
The 49ers at one point were up 38-10 against the Lions and 41-17 with exactly 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Thanks to a recovered onside kick and a Samuel fumble, the Lions scored 16 points before they ran out of gas and the 49ers started the season with a win while avoiding an embarrassing loss.
Since Week 14, the 49ers have held on for a crazy overtime win against the Cincinnati Bengals, have blown a lead vs. the Tennessee Titans, erased a 17-0 deficit against the Rams for an overtime win to make it to the playoffs, secured their lead against the Dallas Cowboys to pull off an upset in the NFC Wild Card Game and beat Aaron Rodgers and the Packers at a snowy Lambeau Field in the divisional round without scoring an offensive touchdown.
Nothing has been easy for the 49ers this season, and their hardships have flipped to an advantage.
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“You should never be comfortable until that game ends,” Shanahan said. “And I think it helps you stay more humble, more grounded and never get too cocky until you get the job done. And that job is never done until you’re shaking hands and the game’s over.”
Two years ago, the 49ers suffered perhaps the hardest loss a coach or player can go through. Now, the core of that same group has them one win away from battling again for the Lombardi Trophy.
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