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Steve Wilks Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Stephen A. Smith blasts 49ers, Kyle Shanahan for firing Steve Wilks: 'I'm disgusted'

By Matthew Neschis | Last updated 2/15/24

On the heels of another gut-wrenching loss in the Super Bowl, the 49ers fired Steve Wilks after one season as the team's defensive coordinator. Yet according to Stephen A. Smith, San Francisco placed the blame on the wrong coach.

Under Wilks, San Francisco's defense finished the regular season third in the NFL in points per game allowed (17.5), eighth in yards per game allowed (304) and fifth in opponent's average passer rating (81). These numbers ballooned in the postseason, however, with the 49ers surrendering 25.7 PPG and 409 YPG over three games.

The 49ers' defensive struggles in the playoffs came to a head in the closing minutes of Super Bowl LVIII. Despite holding the Chiefs' offense in check for most of the night, San Francisco couldn't prevent Patrick Mahomes from erasing a 10-point deficit and sending the contest into overtime. On the game's culminating drive in OT, the star quarterback rushed for 27 yards and completed 8-of-8 passes for 42 yards and a touchdown, securing the Chiefs' 25-22 victory.

While the 49ers defense has received the brunt of the blame for the defeat, Smith believed the unit played well barring Mahomes' late-game heroics.

"I think that San Francisco's defense played pretty damn well," Smith said on ESPN's "First Take." "I don't think anybody would deny that collectively, over the course of those 60 minutes plus for the Super Bowl, you expected Kansas City's offense to look a little bit better than it did."

.@stephenasmith is "disgusted" by the 49ers firing Steve Wilks. pic.twitter.com/hgkRH07FKS
— First Take (@FirstTake) February 15, 2024

Instead of Wilks being scapegoated for the loss, Smith argued more criticism should've been directed to 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan.

"I think it should be a bad look, I'm disgusted," Smith said of Wilks' firing. "I'm just sick and tired of folks getting certain chances that other people don't get. Kyle Shanahan has been ... in three Super Bowls. All three he's had double-digit leads. All three he's lost."

As offensive coordinator with the Falcons in Super Bowl LI, Shanahan witnessed Atlanta blow a 25-point lead to Tom Brady and the Patriots. Then as 49ers HC in Super Bowl LIV, he watched San Francisco surrender 21 unanswered points to the Chiefs and squander a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Fast forward to this year's Super Bowl, and Shanahan and the 49ers found a way to fumble away another double-digit lead.

"You've got a team that spent 57+ minutes holding the Kansas City Chiefs to under 20 points and you still can't win a game," Smith said. "But Steve Wilks is out of a job, but you keep yours. And you're like, 'I think we need to modify and I think we need to do things better.' How about you need to be better, Kyle Shanahan?"

It remains to be seen how many more chances Shanahan receives to secure the elusive Lombardi Trophy before he finds himself — and not another coach — on the chopping block.

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