Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans believes if San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw hadn’t torn his left Achilles in Super Bowl 58, they would have won the big game.
DeMeco Ryans Believes a Healthy Dre Greenlaw Would Have Changed Super Bowl 58
Greenlaw suffered the devastating injury only 12 defensive snaps into the 49ers’ 25-22 Super Bowl 58 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb. 11 in Las Vegas.
Ryans believes that Greenlaw’s presence on the field was missed, and the outcome of the game would have been different had he been playing.
“I talked to him before the game,” Ryans told NBC Sports Bay Area on Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “He was in the right mode. You hate to say this, but if they had Dre, I feel like the game is different. They have, [it’s] Dre because of the impact plays that he can make.”
Ryans didn’t know the injury occurred until a bit after it happened. The coach was at home visiting his wife, who had just delivered a baby girl the Saturday before the game.
“I was watching with my kids, so I was watching the Nickelodeon broadcast at that time,” Ryans said. “That broadcast didn’t show it. I was talking to my wife who was in the hospital, and she was like, ‘Did you see what happened to Dre?’ And I’m like, ‘No, I didn’t see it.'”
Ryans ended up finding a video of the moment Greenlaw was jumping up and down while attempting to run onto the field when the injury occurred.
“I was just like, ‘I can’t believe this happened,'” Ryans said. “He was having such a great game, and knowing Dre, I know when he is locked in. He was locked in. I know he was going to have a good game.”
General manager John Lynch provided an update on Greenlaw, who already has undergone Achilles surgery.
“Tim McAdams did the surgery, and it went very well,” Lynch said on Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “I know it was a gut punch when it happened. Understanding what just happened, we’re not even on the field, then looking up at the screen just like it was for our entire fan base and for football fans in general.
“Your heart goes out to Dre because he puts so much into it, and he lives for the big moments, and to not be able to compete, it killed him, and it hurts us because he’s a great player.”
Greenlaw had a stand-out season registering 120 tackles — 75 solo, five for a loss, four quarterback hits, and 1.5 sacks. The linebacker also recorded two game-changing interceptions in the 49ers’ Divisional Round playoff win over the Green Bay Packers.
The linebacker’s absence in the second half of the Super Bowl was a blow for the defense that had held the Kansas City Chiefs to only three points in the first half.
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