Kyle Shanahan using Buccaneers as motivation for 49ers to upset Eagles
By Josh Hill
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might be out of the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean they’re not still having an impact.
This weekend will see the underdog San Francisco 49ers, a warm-weather team, travel to frigid and hostile Philadelphia to take on the top-seeded Eagles in the NFC Championship where they are not favored to win.
Where have we heard this one before? Kyle Shanahan knows.
According to David Lombardi, who is on the 49ers beat for The Athletic, Shanahan showed his team the tape of Tampa Bay’s iconic win over Philadelphia in the 2002 NFC Championship Game.
Apparently, John Lynch was in the room as well, which makes it even more awesome.
“Kyle Shanahan showed 49ers the January 2003 NFC title game — when Tampa Bay went into Philadelphia and closed Veterans Stadium with an emphatic road win,” Lombardi reported this week. “John Lynch was on that Tampa team and pacing in Shanahan’s office while watching.”
That’s the good stuff.
It’s a nearly identical situation to what the Buccaneers dealt with over twenty years ago. While the 49ers defense isn’t going to be remembered like the ’02 defense is, it heads to Philly as the league’s top-rated unit. Brad Johnson had played more than seven games in his career prior to the NFC Championship Game, but there are parallels between him and Brock Purdy when it comes to questions critics have about how potent the offense will be.
Of course, Purdy has much more powerful weapons than Johnson had at his disposal. No one is going to confuse Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, and George Kittle with Joe Jurevicius, Keyshawn Johnson, and Mike Alstott anytime soon. But a parallel can be drawn there with how much fans love each player and hold them close to their hearts.
Lest we forget John Lynch, who can speak to that game better than any game footage Shanahan can show his team.
It’s also never a bad time to talk about Ronde Barber’s pick-six of Donovan McNabb to close down The Vet. Bucs fans should take any excuse they can get to look back on what is still perhaps the finest moment in franchise history.
Even with the Super Bowl 55 win over Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, Ronde’s pick-sick remains the peak of Bucs fandom.
Shanahan didn’t have to look hard for highlights of the game. The NFL’s official YouTube account has the entire broadcast of the game on its channel to watch for free.
Rather than spend this weekend wallowing about how the Bucs aren’t still alive, let’s just re-live one of the greatest moments in franchise history from start to finish.