LAS VEGAS — Patrick Mahomes was on the San Francisco 49ers’ minds even after they had the ball on Sunday.
Dealing with third-and-4 from the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs’ 9-yard line in additional time, Brock Purdy stated he knew the 49ers couldn’t accept a area purpose as a result of it will give Mahomes an opportunity to counter with the kind of game-winning drive for which he’s develop into well-known.
“You simply don’t need to give him a possibility to go down and win the sport with a landing,” Purdy stated.
That’s precisely what occurred.
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The 49ers’ third-down play was one. It known as for Jauan Jennings, a powerful contender for the sport’s MVP award at that time, to begin inside, then lower rapidly again to the close to pylon. He did, shaking his defender within the course of.
“It seemed like Jauan killed him, gained fairly good,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan stated afterward.
The issue is that nobody blocked Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones, who’s each Kansas Metropolis’s finest defensive participant and somebody who plagued the 49ers of their final Tremendous Bowl assembly with the Chiefs. Proper sort out Colton McKivitz put a hand on Jones, however moved to the surface to dam defensive finish George Karlaftis.
That gave Jones a free run at Purdy, who needed to rush his move and ended up throwing too far for Jennings. The 49ers settled for a 27-yard Jake Moody area purpose and a 3-point lead. And that set the stage for what Purdy and the 49ers feared: A classic Mahomes drive that went 13 performs, included a 19-yard Mahomes scramble and ended with a game-winning toss to a wide-open Mecole Hardman.
The rating and ensuing 25-22 victory left Mahomes with the MVP award and the 49ers exhausted, devastated and, for the second time in 4 years, ruing what may have been in a Tremendous Bowl versus the Chiefs.
“When you might have offense just like the Chiefs do and what Mahomes can do, for us, it’s like, ‘All proper we have now to attain touchdowns,’” Purdy stated. “And we had alternatives to take action, I feel. Shot ourselves within the foot simply with penalties and the operations and stuff.”
For many of the recreation, the 49ers and Chiefs had been digital twins.
Each defenses had been dominant early, taking the opponent’s finest gamers out of the sport. Defensive effort might have been a problem within the 49ers’ opening playoff video games, however not on Sunday as gamers like Chase Younger, Randy Gregory and Javon Kinlaw stepped ahead with large performs that annoyed the Chiefs and held them to six factors by means of practically three quarters.
Mahomes’ favourite goal, tight finish Travis Kelce, had one catch for 1 yard at halftime. And Mahomes and Purdy had precisely the identical modest passing complete — 123 yards — at halftime.
The Chiefs protection, nonetheless, was even higher at squashing their opponent’s star gamers. Receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel had been held to 3 catches every on Sunday regardless of Samuel being focused a game-high 11 instances. Tight finish George Kittle had a key catch on fourth down within the fourth quarter however was held to 4 yards complete. That fourth-and-3 throw within the fourth quarter additionally was influenced by Mahomes.
“That isn’t in all probability one thing usually we’d do, however thought it was the fitting factor in that scenario,” Shanahan stated.
The one true offensive weapons for the 49ers had been Jennings, who had a passing and receiving landing, and Christian McCaffrey, who had a mixed 160 yards of offense.
Jauan Jennings, celebrating his fourth-quarter landing catch, might have been in line to win the Tremendous Bowl MVP had the 49ers held on. (Patrick T. Fallon / AFP through Getty Photographs)
What’s extra, the 49ers offense by no means may absolutely make the most of Mahomes’ and Kelce’s modest begins.
Early within the third quarter, Mahomes was flushed from the pocket however discovered that Kelce was being blanketed by linebacker Fred Warner. He as a substitute hoisted a move to receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling that was picked off by security Ji’Ayir Brown on the Kansas Metropolis 44-yard line.
The 49ers had momentum, that they had the gang behind them and so they had an ideal alternative to construct on their 10-3 lead. As a substitute Purdy threw an incompletion on first down, guard Aaron Banks dedicated a false begin on second down and the 49ers needed to punt the ball away.
“It was small issues all over the place — all three phases,” fullback Kyle Juszczyk stated. “We did issues that weren’t attribute to what we often do as a workforce and I feel ultimately that’s what hit us, and it was an excessive amount of to beat.”
The 49ers additionally handled extra attrition than the Chiefs.
They misplaced linebacker Dre Greenlaw within the second quarter when, whereas operating onto the sector following a punt, he tore his Achilles tendon. Proper guard Jon Feliciano was injured late within the third quarter whereas Samuel (hamstring) and Kittle (shoulder) needed to go away the sport for stretches. Throughout one crucial sequence late within the fourth quarter, the 49ers had been with out defensive starters Greenlaw, Brown and Deommodore Lenoir.
Because the 49ers weakened, the Mahomes-Kelce connection grew stronger. The tight finish’s 22-yard catch and run on the finish of the fourth quarter — he beat Warner, who had been robust towards him to that time — arrange the sector purpose that despatched the sport into additional time, and Kelce completed with 93 yards to guide all receivers.
“That’s in all probability probably the most disappointing factor concerning the loss,” Warner stated. “As a result of we went into it saying that he wasn’t going to be the explanation they beat us. And we had been off on a few performs on the finish there the place he was operating extensive open over the center of the sector. That’s disappointing.”
Shanahan cited analytics as the explanation he had the 49ers obtain the ball to start additional time. He figured the workforce that bought the opening kickoff of the session would possibly get a second possession.
“We needed the ball third,” he stated. “If each groups matched and scored, we needed to be those who had the prospect to go win (the sport).”
The 49ers by no means bought that likelihood. Their opening drive of additional time was their longest of the sport — 7:38. That was adopted by the Chiefs’ longest of the sport — 7:19. The distinction was that one led to a area purpose and the opposite in a landing.
After Mahomes’ large scramble into the crimson zone, tailback Isiah Pacheco ran for 3 yards and Mahomes hit Kelce for an additional 7 yards. That put the ball on the San Francisco 3-yard line with the clocking winding down within the first additional time.
The ultimate blow got here on a shotgun snap on which nobody coated Hardman, who got here in movement towards the formation however reduce to the surface. Each Warner and security Logan Ryan had been dashing towards Mahomes on the play.
THE CHIEFS ARE BACK-TO-BACK SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS! pic.twitter.com/ZzfhTyUXg9
— NFL (@NFL) February 12, 2024
“I’m undecided,” Warner stated of what went mistaken with the protection. “I’ve bought to see it. I’m undecided who was presupposed to be on (Hardman).”
The loss had a number of the identical themes because the one 4 years in the past in Miami, together with a blown lead and the lack to cease Jones and Mahomes in key moments.
The aftermath of this one, nonetheless, appeared worse. The locker room had a funeral-like quiet afterward. Shanahan gave solely a quick postgame discuss to his workforce, McCaffrey gave a clipped postgame interview and even the usually verbose Kittle’s session lasted simply 4 minutes.
“Not loads has been stated,” Purdy stated. “It simply hurts. We have now the workforce clearly to do it, to win the entire thing, after which to return up brief like that. … The best way issues have been the final couple of years right here, everybody needed it so dangerous. So, I feel we’re nonetheless attempting to kind of collect our ideas and every thing proper now. However everybody in that locker room loves one another, I’ll inform you that.”
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(Prime photograph of Brock Purdy being pressured in additional time by Chris Jones: Ethan Miller / Getty Photographs)
