Kyle Shanahan Reflects on 'Heartbreaking' Super Bowl Losses with 49ers, Falcons

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has coached in two Super Bowls, but he enters Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs looking for his first win.

While speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Shanahan acknowledged that his previous Super Bowl losses as offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons in 2017 and head coach of the 49ers in 2020 were "heartbreaking."

"I've been able to coach in two Super Bowls and to lose either of them, both of them are heartbreaking," Shanahan said, per ProFootballTalk's Michael David Smith. "It's all about getting back there again and that's what I'm excited about today."

It would be reasonable to suggest Shanahan's Super Bowl loss as a member of the Falcons was a bit more heartbreaking as Atlanta collapsed and blew a 28-3 lead to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

However, Shanahan told Peter King of NBC Sports this week that he isn't haunted by that defeat:

"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. But I also understand that the quarterback on the other side (Tom Brady) did the most unbelievable thing I've ever seen. He performed surgery for an entire second half."

The 44-year-old told King that San Francisco's Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs in 2020 was a tougher pill to swallow.

"The harder one was the Kansas City game, personally," he said. "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 h how much you love it."

Shanahan and the 49ers will now get another shot at taking down the Chiefs on Sunday at Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium in a rematch of Super Bowl LIV.

It won't be easy with players like Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce on the other side of the ball, though the roster this year is arguably better than it was in 2020 with the additions of players like running back Christian McCaffrey, quarterback Brock Purdy and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.