SANTA CLARA — Kyle Shanahan’s Super Bowl past is not haunting him, “to tell you the truth,” he said Monday.

He hasn’t thought “much at all” the past three years about his much-debated, Super Bowl play calling as the Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator. After all, he’s been consumed since then resurrecting the 49ers and leading them into this season’s Super Bowl.

With nearly two weeks to build hype and answer reporters’ questions ahead of Super Bowl LIV with the Kansas City Chiefs, Shanahan is astute enough to know that his last trip will be scrutinized, criticized and analyzed. He still shrugs off critics who simplified the 2016 Falcons’ collapse by saying he should have run the ball more to protect a 28-3 lead.

“The whole narrative of, ‘If I just would have ran it, we would have won,’ I know that wasn’t the case,” Shanahan said. “I know what went into that game, all the stuff that happened.”

Running the ball has keyed his 49ers’ path to a Feb. 2 date for the Lombardi Trophy. The 49ers churned out an astounding 89 carries on 119 snaps. They’ve ran for 471 yards, including 105 from Tevin Coleman in their playoff opener against Minnesota and a franchise-record 220 from Raheem Mostert in Sunday’s 37-20 NFC Championship win over Green Bay.

“The coach who DID NOT RUN THE BALL in the third/fourth quarters of Super Bowl 51 is taking his team to Super Bowl 54 by … Running the ball,” wrote Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Mark Bradley.

Monday’s day-after press conference meant it was time for Shanahan to again recite what led to the Falcons infamously blowing a 28-3 lead and losing Super Bowl LI to the New England Patriots 34-28 in overtime.

Let’s let Shanahan have the mic from here on out to state his case:

“The days after (losing) are really tough. Losing a Super Bowl is extremely tough for everybody, especially when you lose with a 28-3 lead going into the fourth (quarter).

“The way it came down on me, personally, I didn’t react to that the way people expect. There were definitely parts in that Super Bowl I’d love to have back and stuff I was very hard on myself.

“But the whole narrative of, ‘If I just would have ran it, we would have won,’ I know that wasn’t the case. I know what went into that game, all the stuff that happened.

“That stuff didn’t bother me. You have to deal with that, listening to other people. But it was nice to be able to move on, move out here, keep working and I’m glad we’ve got a chance to go back.

“The play I regretted the most was, when we got down there, we hadn’t converted a third down really the entire second half and were averaging 1 yard a carry (actually 2 yards). When you do that, the formula to give the ball back to someone is go run-run-pass, because you’re going to make it third-and-7, at best, every single time, and when you’re not converting third downs, that makes it tough.

“We did mix it up a little bit. We actually ran it more the second half than the first half (actually 9 carries each). But the other team was 34-of-38, converted all their third downs, couldn’t get the ball. Finally they got within a score, we got it back, and got pretty aggressive to get it down there.

“It was a second-and-(11). Called a pass (with 3:56 to go, at the Patriots 23, 3:56 remaining). Last time down there, I called a second-and-10 called a run, got a 2-yard loss and a holding call that put us out of field-goal range. This time I went the opposite, tried to get a play to Julio (Jones), they played a different coverage, I didn’t get the call I wanted so I didn’t like the call. I was hoping we could just get rid of it, but they had a pretty good rush and got a sack.

“Once that happened I knew we had to throw, because now we were out of field-goal range. Threw it the next down to (Mohammad) Sanu, ran a choice route breaking out, moved the chains, but they called a holding call on our left tackle, so that put us way back and we had to throw to get back into it and we missed it.

“I wish I didn’t call that play on second-and-11 that led to that sack.

“I thought I did a pretty good job that year (as a play caller). We had a historic offense in Atlanta and did a lot of good things. As a play caller, you’re just as good as your last game. You learn stuff from everything. People act like it was a bunch of big learning moments in that game. I wish I hadn’t called a pass on second-and-10, but the learning moments never feel good.

“That’s why I promise you when we’re way up in the fourth quarter (Sunday) on Green Bay, I promise you I know what 28 minus 3 is, and a 25-point lead in the fourth quarter isn’t enough.

“When we have a 14-point lead with eight minutes to go against Green Bay, I can promise you I feel from experience that the game is tied and we don’t have a two-score lead. That’s the stuff that helps you.

“People can tend to relax. I won’t say I ever relaxed in that Super Bowl, especially with Tom Brady having that ball. But that’s something that keeps you humble in every single moment until the game is over.”

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From sacks to backpacks, it wasn’t a great Super Bowl experience.

After a media session earlier in the week, veteran sportswriter Art Spander accidentally took Shanahan’s backpack, which had his iPad game plan but also dozens of Super Bowl tickets and money. Eventually the mix-up was solved and now Shanahan jokes about it whenever he sees Spander.

Let’s let Shanahan retell the story of the missing backpack:

“I had almost a panic attack. All you guys were huddled around me, distracting me, setting me up while you could take it.

“It was right between my legs as I was sitting on the top part of a chair. It was between my legs. Then when I was done talking to everybody, it wasn’t there anymore.

“There was a backpack there, but it wasn’t mine.

“So he took mine and left his. But I was panicked. Not because of the game plan and everything. That’s on an iPad and you need codes to get in and stuff, and we have others. So that’s not a big deal.

“But I had about 48 Super Bowl tickets in there that I had bought for family members and everything. I was carrying a lot of money for that and IOUs and stuff. I was very panicked about the tickets and cash.

“It was gone for about an hour and a half. The whole team left me. The Patriots came in. I was walking around there looking for my backpack and running into more media people and still having them (ask to) do interviews.

“I was trying not to come off as jerk, blowing them off, but I was panicked trying to find my backpack. So it was awkward. But Art ended up coming back with it.

“I think found it because the backpack remaining, I eventually opened it and saw his name in there. So people tracked him down and he had it. They tried to take it off of him and he wouldn’t give it to me at first. Until I showed him it was mine. … I forgave him fast. But I was stressed for a while.”