It sounds like the 49ers didn’t know how the new OT rules worked during Super Bowl 58

We don't have to recap the game. We know how it ended. The San Francisco 49ers came up just short of a Super Bowl LVIII victory.

But what we should be talking about is how everything went down in overtime.

When Kyle Shanahan elected to receive at the start of the extra quarter, some wondered whether or not that was a good decision. After all, if the Chiefs waltzed down and scored a touchdown had they received, San Francisco would then know exactly what was at stake, giving them four downs to work with and, even a possibility of going for two if they wanted to be bold in the very end.

The 49ers chose to receive, though, of course. And, the rest is history. Patrick Mahomes did a Patrick Mahomes thing and the Niners ended without the hardware, yet again.

Following the game, though, it wasn't the decision to receive that had Shanahan in hot water. It was the fact that his players weren't prepared well enough for a Super Bowl overtime.

49ers players admitted to not knowing the new overtime rules, and Kyle Shanahan deserves all the blame.

"I don't really know the strategy."

"I guess that's not the case," Juszcyk said when speaking about his thinking as to why the 49ers would have elected to receive. The full back figured decision-making, on this stage, would have been just as it was in the regular season.

"I don't really know the strategy," he went on to say.

What was the most shocking to hear after the game was defensive lineman Arik Armstead saying he first learned of the new overtime rules when they appeared on the Jumbotron at Allegiant Stadium ... moments before overtime kicked off.

That, folks, is not good.

Shanahan deserves all the credit in the world for the ascension of Brock Purdy. He was well-deserved to be in the conversation for NFL Coach of the Year. And, he should continue to be seen as one of the top head coaches in all of football.

Shanahan is a wizard when it comes to offensive details. He knows all about the little things.

But, he seems to have whiffed on this one. It's the small details that may have mattered most in this Super Bowl, and it may not have been just the players who didn't know the rules.

How do we know Shanahan fully remembered the new overtime rules? Although he defended his decision to receive and referenced all the analytics it took to make that decision, did Shanahan really think this one through?

Better question: why didn't his players know the rules, inside and out?

This is downright unacceptable.