Welcome back all! Super Bowl LIV is now in the rearview, but what a game it was. For the first 54 minutes of action, the 49ers had control of the game, limited the big-play abilities of the Chiefs high-octane offense beautifully, and found themselves in prime position to bring home the franchise's sixth Super Bowl Title.
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Then, on 3rd and 15 with under 7 minutes to go in the game, the Chiefs finally hit on a quick, big chunk strike and completely changed the trajectory of the game. Patrick Mahomes found Tyreek Hill for a 44-yard gain down to the 49ers' 21 that setup a Travis Kelce 1-yard TD catch four plays later that broke a 20-10 game, and got Kansas City back into the Super Bowl with 6:13 to spare.
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Mahomes was good in the early-going as he led the first TD drive of the game, punching it in from a yard out on an option-keeper. Before the 1-yard TD run that gave KC their first lead of the game at 7-3, he absorbed a massive hit from the 49ers' Jimmie Ward on a 3rd & 11 scramble that went for 12 yards. Mahomes was jarred on the play, and the ball came flying loose and went out of bounds a yard short of the first down marker leaving the Chiefs with a big 4th & 1, and Ward questionable to return.
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Andy Reid elected to go for it, and after a little trickery & backfield shifting, RB Damien Williams took a direct snap down to the 1 and setup the Mahomes' TD run with just 0:31 remaining in the first quarter.
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The 15-play, 75-yard drive got things going for KC, but the success would be limited the rest of the first half and through the 3rd quarter. After Garoppolo was pressured and forced into an interception on the ensuing 49ers' possession, it was a 9-play 43 yard drive, capped by a Harrison Butker 31-yard FG that made it 10-3 Chiefs.
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Not to be outdone, San Francisco answered back immediately by going on a 7-play, 80-yard drive of their own, that featured a steady dose of RB Raheem Mostert for the first time in the game. The NFC Title game hero, didn't get his first touch until just over the 9-minute mark of the second quarter, and immediately made an impact, running 3 times for 21 yards on the drive. After Garoppolo found WR Deebo Samuel for an 11-yard gain, the drive was capped off by a beautiful play action toss to FB Kyle Juszczyk, who went 15-yards for the game-tying TD.
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With time waining in the first half, the 49ers got the ball back with around a minute to go in the second quarter, and it appeared they might be in business for another score right before the half. Garoppolo found TE George Kittle up the right sideline for what appeared to be a big 42-yard gain down to the Chiefs' 13, but Kittle was called for Pass Interference on the play. While it appeared the contact made on the play wasn't egregious, Kittle still extended his arm and pushed off in the moments before the ball arrived just enough to draw the offensive PI call. The 49ers & many watching were upset with the call, but in the end, it was the correct call. Kittle did extend his arm and did receive an advantage from the push-off, no matter how minor it may have appeared. It's a call that doesn't always get made, so you can understand the 49ers' frustrations. Instead of tacking on a field goal before the half, the Niners ran out the clock and took the 10-10 deadlock into the locker room.
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Despite the call going against them to end the first half, San Fran came out ready to go to start the second half. They took the 2nd half kickoff and went 60 yards on 9 plays, behind a series of short passes from Garoppolo and settled for a 42-yard Robbie Gould FG for their first lead of the game since they led 3-0 in the very early going.
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Mahomes then threw his first pick of the game, trying to find Hill on a 3rd and 12, and instead, found 49ers LB Fred Warner at the San Fran 45-yard line. Again, the 49ers' wasted no time in taking advantage of the Chiefs' miscue, and promptly went 55 yards in just 6 plays to extend their lead out to 20-10 behind a 1-yard run from Mostert.
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With just 2:35 to go in the 3rd quarter, San Francisco opened up their largest lead of the game at 20-10. They were moving the ball effectively throughout the 3rd quarter, running and using the play-action pass to setup a pair of scores and take control of the game heading into the 4th quarter.
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Mahomes was able to answer the SF TD with a drive of his own, but after KC went 12 plays & all the way down to the Niners' 23, Mahomes' 3rd and 6 pass intended for Hill, was low and behind the wideout, and instead ricocheted off of Hill's hand and into the arms of 49ers' safety Tarvarius Moore, for Mahomes' second pick in as many possessions.
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The costly turnover with just 11:57 to play in the game, could have been a potential back-breaker for the Chiefs, but the defense came through with a huge stop after first giving up a 12-yard completion to TE Kittle.
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It was then on 3rd & 15 from his own 35-yard line with just 7:13 left to play, that Mahomes and the Chiefs' high-octane offense finally lived up to their 'zoom' moniker. The young QB was able to find a surprisingly open Hill deep downfield with a perfect 44-yard strike down to the 49ers' 21 that completely flipped the game on its head. Four plays later, Mahomes hit Kelce from a yard out, and the Chiefs were back from the dead, and suddenly back in Super Bowl LIV, down just 20-17 with 6:13 to play.
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Then came the most pivotal possession of the game for both teams, and it was the Kansas City defense - who absolutely nobody was talking about heading into this game - that came up with the biggest stop of Super Bowl LIV.
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After a 5-yard Mostert run on 1st down, the Chiefs' forced back-to-back incomplete passes, and just like that, San Fran went 3 and out for the first time in the game. Less than a minute later, and Mahomes and company all-of-a-sudden had the ball back trailing by 3 with a little over 5 minutes to play. 7 plays later, and Mahomes found RB Damien Williams on 3rd and goal from the 5, for the go-ahead score with just 2:44 to play.
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The 49ers took the ensuing possession quickly to the KC 49 yard line, but the drive stalled there, and Garoppolo was sacked by Frank Clark on 4th & 10 for a 9-yard loss. He had just overthrown an open Emmanuel Sanders on the previous play, and that one will most likely be the one that causes Jimmy G to lose some sleep. Sanders beat the double-team and was streaking up the middle with a step or so lead on a pair of Chiefs' defenders, but Garoppolo overshot Sanders by about 2- yards and instead, faced the pivotal 4th down.
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The once vaunted 49ers defense then allowed Damien Williams to gain 4 yards, before breaking his next carry outside and up the left sideline & all the way to the house for the game-clinching 38 yard TD run to make it 31-20 Kansas City with just 1:12 to play.
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One more interception, and a series of kneeldowns later & Patrick Mahomes had led one of the great comebacks in Super Bowl history and finally won that ever-elusive ring for head coach Andy Reid.
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Reid had coached more games without winning a Super Bowl Title than anyone else in the history of the league, and after 21 seasons at the helm of first the Eagles, and now the Chiefs, finally was able to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
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For young 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, it has to feel a lot like Super Bowl LI, where he was the offensive coordinator for the Falcons' incredible choke-job against the Patriots, where they let a 28-3 3rd quarter lead get away from them. The Falcons had a 99.1% win probability at one point in that game, and after intercepting Mahomes for a second consecutive time early in the 4th quarter last night, the 49ers had a 96.1% win probability.
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As Shanahan said in his postgame remarks, this one will sting for a while. While many are pointing to the young playcallers decision to dial up a pass-play on 2nd & 5 late in the game, instead of just continuing to run the ball, it was a good call. Kittle was open off of the play-action just as he had been for basically the entire 2nd half, but the pass was deflected at the line, and the rest is history.
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In the end, San Francisco played a beautiful game to their strengths for the first 54 minutes of Super Bowl LIV. They were dominated in the final 6 minutes, however, and the Chiefs did what the Chiefs do - rally back for a come-from-behind victory. In fact, they became the first team in NFL history to trail by double-digits in all three of their postseason games, only to rally back and win all three games by double-digits.
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While many are looking for a scapegoat for the 49ers' crushing loss, sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the other side and acknowledge what they were able to accomplish. This is far more about Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and the Chiefs finding a way to win Super Bowl LIV then it is Kyle Shanahan, Jimmy Garoppolo, and the 49ers finding a way to lose it.
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Hats off to both teams, both played well, and as advertised, both had their moments in the game, it just so happened to be the Chiefs that made the decisive plays down the stretch. Super Bowl LIV will always be remembered for the furious late-comeback, and as the crowning, pinnacle moment in Andy Reid's long, historic coaching journey.
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A couple of closing notes on Super Bowl LIV:
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Mahomes was named MVP after going 26-42 for 282 yards with 2 TDs & 2INTs through the air and added 29 yards rushing and a score on the ground.
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49ers WR Deebo Samuel set the S.B. record for rushing yards in a game by a WR with 53 yards on just 3 carries. He added another 39 yards receiving on 5 catches.
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Niners RB Raheem Mostert, who gashed the Packers for 220 yards in the NFC Title game, finished with 58 yards and a score on just 12 attempts.
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Chiefs RB Damien Williams on the other hand, was the RB that had the biggest impact on the game, rushing for 104 yards and a score, while also adding 29 receiving yards and another score as a receiver...
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