The San Francisco 49ers are the current favorites to win the Super Bowl, per DraftKings odds. It looks like this is the year Kyle Shanahan gets the Super Bowl monkey off his back. But according to former NFL WR Roddy White, the head coach might be unsuccessful.

“No,” Roddy White said on the Up & Adams Show, when asked about Shanahan winning the Super Bowl. “But they start like this every year. That team starts very fast every year. The only time they haven’t started fast is when they had everybody hurt. And this year they’re still managing to get people hurt, but they’re off to a good start. I think, me personally, that he’s a great offensive mind, right? But in tough situations, in pressure situations, the overaggressive play calls always get him in trouble.

“I think that’s just his mentality. He doesn’t play situational football well. That’s the only thing that I think that’s really like a knock on his game. And the thing is, he doesn’t play situational football well. And that gets his team in trouble when you play against great quarterbacks. And when you make it to a Super Bowl, you’re going to be playing against a great quarterback.”

Shanahan reached the Super Bowl twice as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, but lost both times to the Kansas City Chiefs. The red and gold have a situational football heavyweight in QB Patrick Mahomes, who Roddy White believes has learnt from Tom Brady. Mahomes and Brady have played each other in the Super Bowl previously.

But Shanahan, of course, hasn’t had the best of times calling plays in the Super Bowl. One has to look back at Super Bowl LI, when Kyle Shanahan was the offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons. They were leading by eight points in the fourth quarter, and made two big plays to find themselves at New England’s 22-yard line.

The Falcons had a chance to extend their lead, but they lost a yard on a running play. On the next play, quarterback Matt Ryan was sacked, pushing them back to the 35-yard line. A holding penalty then moved them even farther back to the 45-yard line. Eventually, they had to punt the ball to New England, giving the Patriots another chance to score. The Patriots scored a touchdown and converted a two-point attempt to tie the game before winning in overtime.

Entering the fourth quarter, not many believed the Patriots could win it; the Falcons were ahead by 28-9 at that time. Shanahan’s decision to play safe cost Atlanta the win.

“I wish I didn’t call that play on second-and-11 that led to that sack,” Shanahan said in 2020.

Fourth-quarter mismanagement also doomed the Niners in their first Super Bowl meeting with the Chiefs. Leading 20–10 in the fourth quarter, 49ers defender Tarvarius Moore intercepted Patrick Mahomes early. San Francisco had a chance to keep the ball and protect its lead.

However, the 49ers could surprisingly not score in any of the ensuing four drives. The penultimate drive was a turnover on downs, and the final drive saw QB Jimmy Garoppolo being intercepted. The Chiefs, meanwhile, racked up three touchdowns after the Patrick Mahomes interception.

In both cases, Kyle Shanahan’s teams were on a hot start. The Falcons were 4-1 early in the 2016 season, and the Niners were undefeated until the Week 10 Seattle Seahawks game in 2019.

The 49ers have the prowess to win it all this year too. But will Kyle Shanahan be able to coach his team efficiently and lift the Lombardi Trophy? We will have to wait and watch.