The dust will soon settle on Super Bowl 58, but it will take some time for the San Francisco 49ers and head coach Kyle Shanahan to move on from their latest heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. 

For Shanahan, a second loss to Patrick Mahomes may hurt especially hard, with the 49ers head coach and general manager John Lynch forced to confront the decision they famously didn't make in their first draft in 2017.

In that draft, the Chiefs traded up to take Mahomes 10th overall. The 49ers, even after trading back one spot in a deal with the Chicago Bears, could have had him seven spots earlier with the third overall pick. Instead, they selected defensive tackle Solomon Thomas. Thomas hasn't been with the team since the 2020 season.

At the time, it wasn't viewed as an egregious error by a team that was rebuilding. Now, after seeing Mahomes erase 49ers leads, San Francisco led four separate times on Sunday, in two Super Bowls, it looks like an historic mistake that continues to haunt them.

Of course, the 49ers now have a quarterback that looks well set to be their starter for a long time to come. There was little Brock Purdy did wrong in a thrilling overtime battle. Continually pressured, Purdy stood up to the moment, finding Christian McCaffrey for 24 yards and Kyle Juszczyk for 13 yards with a pass rush in his face on the overtime drive that put the 49ers up 22-19 with a field goal.

"We had our chances, needed to score a couple touchdowns and we didn’t, but I was happy with Brock," said Shanahan afterwards. "I thought Brock did a good job, gave us the chance to win."

Yet it was Shanahan's comment when asked about Mahomes, who subsequently led the Chiefs 75 yards on a 13-play touchdown capped by a three-yard touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman to win the game, that was much more telling.

“Same as always, he's unbelievable," Shanahan said.

There's no denying that succinct remark and, after seeing him break hearts again, the 49ers will face more retrospective questions as to why they didn't consider the ultra high-upside quarterback who has denied the franchise two titles instead of helping them launch a new dynasty.

49ers’ locker room silence speaks volumes after latest Super Bowl loss

They were understandably devastated.