AP

Shanahan, Quinn bring painful past to 49ers-Cowboys meeting

Jan 12, 2022, 9:18 AM | Updated: 11:19 pm

FILE - Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn, right, talks with offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan ...

FILE - Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn, right, talks with offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan during a workout at the NFL football team's practice facility in Flowery Branch, Ga., Friday, Jan. 27, 2017. Kyle Shanahan and Dan Quinn will always share the painful memory of coaching in the Super Bowl together with Atlanta five years ago when the Falcons couldn't hold a 25-point lead in the second half of a loss to New England. The wild-card meeting Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022 between the visiting 49ers (10-7) and Cowboys (12-5) is the first in the playoffs involving both coaches since that crushing loss in Houston.(AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

(AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

Kyle Shanahan and Dan Quinn will always share the painful memory of coaching in the Super Bowl together with Atlanta five years ago when the Falcons couldn’t hold a 25-point lead in the second half of a loss to New England.

At least now the San Francisco coach and the Dallas defensive coordinator will be able to talk about a more recent postseason moment they have in common.

The wild-card meeting Sunday between the visiting 49ers (10-7) and Cowboys (12-5) is the first in the playoffs involving both coaches since that crushing loss in Houston. Back then, Shanahan was Quinn’s offensive coordinator when Atlanta’s infamous 28-3 lead evaporated in a 34-28 overtime loss to Tom Brady and the Patriots.

“I think for both of us, you want to go back and certainly what we did and you talk about it and you say, ‘What did you learn from it?'” Quinn said. “Because otherwise the pain of not completing the deal would be lost on us.

“It’s a shared experience that we have but one hopefully years from now they’ll be some other things to talk about and in a better way. But hey I get it. A couple of years ago I would’ve been (upset) about it and tried to blow it off. I’m never going to look past it and (I’ll) just take the things I learned and rock it from there.”

Shanahan took over the 49ers after the Super Bowl loss, while Quinn led the Falcons to the playoffs the next season before consecutive losing years set the stage for his firing with an 0-5 record last season. The Cowboys hired him in the offseason.

Now both have experienced Super Bowl losses as head coaches after San Francisco lost a fourth-quarter lead to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs to finish the 2019 season.

They’ll be two of three coaches at AT&T Stadium who have led teams to Super Bowls. Dallas coach Mike McCarthy is the one with a victory, leading Green Bay over Pittsburgh at the home of the Cowboys during the 2010 season.

“I think anytime you have a common experience there may be some value to it,” McCarthy said. “There’s a lot more conversation in today’s NFL between coaches particularly in the young generation than I experienced in the earlier days.”

The matchup of Shanahan and Quinn is one of the storylines in a matchup of old playoff rivals that haven’t seen each other in this setting since the last of three consecutive NFC championship games during the 1994 season.

While the 49ers are more defined by their top-three defense, the multifaceted rushing attack could present problems for Dallas’ middle-of-the-pack run defense. Quinn, however, has revitalized a defense that was gouged repeatedly in McCarthy’s Dallas debut last season. The Cowboys have done it with takeaways.

Plus, Quinn has reached the Super Bowl each of the previous two seasons he was a defensive coordinator, with Seattle. The Seahawks won the first and lost the second before Quinn was hired by Atlanta in 2015.

“I’ve got as much respect for him as anyone I’ve ever worked with,” Shanahan said. “It doesn’t surprise me how much he’s helped them this year. They’ve got a real good one, and I have a feeling he won’t be in that position very long.”

To Shanahan’s point, multiple teams with head coach openings have already requested permission to interview Quinn. He turned down the initial request from Jacksonville, and this week didn’t want to get into reports that Denver was interested.

Part of Quinn’s reticence comes from how difficult his firing was on him emotionally, and knowing the fired coaches are probably feeling the same way.

“It’s nice to hear if someone is interested,” Quinn said. “That’s not lost on me. I had a difficult 2020 season that didn’t go so good. So that’s not lost on me, but there’s really nothing to add on my end.”

Quinn’s quick reconstruction of the Dallas defense could result in his next opportunity coming this year, which means he and Shanahan would be head coaches again. But their next meeting, if it happens, won’t be their first. Quinn’s Falcons beat the 49ers 29-22 late in the 2019 season.

“They were very similar in ’19 to how it was when I was there,” Shanahan said. “But just watching him now, in Dallas, it’s still his style. They play the exact same way and it’s very obvious when you see them on tape and that’s the coolest thing about Dan. But just coverage-wise and stuff, it’s very different. That’s impressive for Dan to do it a certain way his whole career and then to make the adjustments.”

Quinn has seen the same in Shanahan, from designing the offense for a mobile quarterback in Robert Griffin III in Washington, to a drop-back style with Matt Ryan in Atlanta and now the run-first mentality with the 49ers.

“I think that’s one of the things I most respect about him: utilizing and finding the unique stuff that a player has and featuring that in their very best ways,” Quinn said. “Both of us have changed some over the years based on personnel and how to use them.”

Now both should have something else to talk about when it comes to their shared postseason history.

___

More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://apnews.com/hub/pro-32 and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Associated Press

Ex-Packer Guion gets 1 year for domestic violence assault

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Former Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Letroy Guion was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading no contest in a domestic violence assault at his home last fall. Brown County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Walsh also ordered Guion on Tuesday to serve three years’ probation and complete a domestic […]

1 year ago

Joe Jarzynka...

Associated Press

Durant eager for Suns debut vs. Hornets after knee injury

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kevin Durant has been through quite a bit during his 15-year NBA career — but joining a new team midway through the season is a new one for the 13-time All-Star. The 34-year-old Durant doesn’t seem all that worried. Durant makes his highly anticipated Phoenix Suns debut on Wednesday night against […]

1 year ago

FILE - Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores stands on the sideline during the second half of an N...

Associated Press

Judge: NFL coach can press discrimination claims in court

NEW YORK (AP) — NFL Coach Brian Flores can pursue some of his discrimination claims against the league and its teams in court rather than through arbitration, a judge ruled Wednesday. The written decision by Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan was issued months after lawyers for the league tried to get the lawsuit moved to […]

1 year ago

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Alex Stalock cools off in the first period during an NHL hockey game ...

Associated Press

Kane trade reinforces hard reality of Blackhawks rebuild

CHICAGO (AP) — After days of speculation, the harsh reality of the Chicago Blackhawks’ situation was reinforced by one move in a flurry of transactions ahead of the NHL trade deadline. Showtime is over, at least in Chicago, and a seemingly bright future is, well, way off in the distance. The reverberations of Chicago’s decision […]

1 year ago

FILE -  Yves Jean-Bart, president of the Haitian Football Federation, wearing a protective face mas...

Associated Press

Disgraced ex-Haitian soccer president announces he’s back

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s former soccer federation president whose lifetime ban from sport over sexual abuse allegations was overturned last month announced Wednesday that he is reclaiming his position. Yves Jean-Bart’s defiant announcement could lead to a standoff with FIFA, which already has appointed an emergency management committee to lead the Haitian Football Association […]

1 year ago

FILE - Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers walks off the field after an NFL football game against the ...

Associated Press

Rodgers says decision on future will come ‘soon enough’

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers says he will make a decision on his future “soon enough” as the four-time MVP quarterback ponders whether to play next season and if his future remains with the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers, 39, discussed his future while speaking on an episode of the “Aubrey Marcus Podcast” that […]

1 year ago

Shanahan, Quinn bring painful past to 49ers-Cowboys meeting