Early last week, Kyle Shanahan had his video director, Michael Bracken, pull coaches tape of the 1994 NFC title game between the 49ers and Cowboys. Shanahan was 15 for that one, a freshman in high school, and his dad was the Niners’ offensive coordinator. He figured he’d have time, at some point, to check it out before his own team played Dallas on Sunday. That time came on Thursday night, after he’d had trouble getting to sleep.
He got out of bed, went to his home office, and there were Troy Aikman and Steve Young on the screen, like he was a teenager again.