The San Francisco 49ers are just days removed from a 25-22 overtime Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and are already favorites to be crowned world champions next year. Head coach Kyle Shanahan believes the 49ers are able to win a big game, and he also believes he will have some key pieces back to do so.
When asked if defensive coordinator Steve Wilks will be around in 2024, Shanahan gave his feelings on the entire coaching staff.
"I haven't talked to anybody yet. ... So yeah, I expect all our coaches to be back," Shanahan said (via NFL.com).
The 49ers defense was strong all year and continued that in the Super Bowl, intercepting Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, shutting down Travis Kelce in the first half, holding all pass-catchers to under 100 yards receiving and allowing just one touchdown in regulation. In the end, though, the defense could not do enough to stop the Chiefs from scoring a touchdown in overtime, giving Kansas City its third Super Bowl win since 2020.
Still, the defense mostly held up well against the defending Super Bowl champions, especially considering that defensive linemen Arik Armstead and Javon Hargrave were playing through injuries and linebacker Dre Greenlaw suffering a torn Achilles during the game. Shanahan said he was proud of how his defense held up all year, crediting them as part of the reason they made it to the biggest stage in football.
"I thought they were one of the reasons that we got this far," Shanahan said. "I thought they did a number of good things. They did a lot of good things in that game, too. Just like our whole team. Our team did a bunch of good things this year but came up short in the last game."
San Francisco general manager John Lynch echoed Shanahan's thoughts, saying the defense played how he hoped it would.
"I was really proud of our defense and the way they competed in this last game. I think that looked like I envisioned it looking. We were getting after them," Lynch said.
Whether the defense will look similar is a big question for the Niners heading into the offseason, and keeping Wilks around would certainly help to answer that. Defensive lineman Nick Bosa said he is taking the loss as a lesson and felt the defense "could've been more prepared" to face Mahomes when he uses his legs.
"You kind of have to anticipate Mahomes wanting to have the ball in his hands," Bosa said, (via the San Francisco Chronicle). "We played plenty of read-option teams, so we have the answers for it. But it's tough when you play a team like that that can beat you in all kinds of different ways. It ended up being very big few moments where they did pull it out. We'll learn from it."
