Smart of teams to hire head coaches without waiting for Kyle Shanahan? Not so much.

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Author: Mark Maske / Source: Washington Post

Matt Ryan celebrates with his offense during the Falcons’ win over the Seahawks at the Georgia Dome on Saturday. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

The Atlanta Falcons played the Seattle Seahawks in an NFC semifinal Saturday in Atlanta, and the real winner was the San Francisco 49ers.

While five NFL franchises with head coaching vacancies have filled them, the 49ers are the only team still looking for a coach. As such, they’re the lone team patient enough to wait for a possible chance to hire Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan or his New England Patriots counterpart, Josh McDaniels. And now, assuming they’re willing to wait a bit longer, they could have their choice between the two.

If they can nab one of them, it would be the smartest thing the 49ers have done in quite some time.

Shanahan made his case — again — to be a head coach with the performance of the Falcons’ offense Saturday as they ousted the Seahawks from the playoffs with a 36-20 triumph. Quarterback Matt Ryan threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns. Three different receivers had touchdown catches….

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