Kyle Shanahan's Approach in NFC Championship Game Proves He Learned Important Lesson From 28-3 Choke

Kyle Shanahan's extended morph from a play-calling prodigy into a world class head coach has been a delight to watch unfold, and the San Francisco 49ers' boss was at his very best during Sunday's undressing of the Green Bay Packers.

What's the blueprint to beat Aaron Rodgers? Other than disrupting his mojo with a four-man pass rush, you have to keep him off the field for as long as possible.

Shanahan exploited that evident flaw, and executed his schemes to the utmost perfection in the NFC Championship, nursing a big lead in the only manner that truly makes sense: carefully. His quote after the game was gold, too.

Frankly, it shouldn't be any more complicated than that.

The 40-year-old HC didn't permit the turnover-prone Jimmy Garoppolo to have a say in the outcome. Rather, he turned to his flurry of dynamic running backs, most notably Raheem Mostert after Tevin Coleman's injury.

After discovering (on the first drive) that Green Bay was going to have no answer for the running game, Shanahan continued to call Mostert's number. When all was said and done, San Fran rushed the rock a whopping 38 times -- Mostert handled 29 of those totes -- and Garoppolo dropped back to pass just eight times.

There was a time in the game where Jimmy G went almost two full quarters without attempting a pass.

Sure, the Packers were able to muster some stops and make things marginally interesting in the fourth quarter, but Shanahan's gameplan was genuinely indestructible.

It's time to face the facts, ladies and gents. Shanahan has learned a career-altering lesson from the Falcons' 28-3 collapse against the Patriots in Super Bowl LI. Never abandon the run, especially when it makes perfect sense.