Reid Downplayed Kelce’s Sideline Incident
Photo: Michael Henriquez – NY Beacon
Allegiant Stadium – Las Vegas Nevada
By Shara Talia Taylor
Photo: Michael Henriquez – NY Beacon
Allegiant Stadium – Las Vegas Nevada
LAS VEGAS NEVADA – The San Francisco 49ers played well and applied pressure for the first half of the game, but ultimately fell in overtime 25-22 to the Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
The 49ers showed up with both defense and impressive offensive plays early on, but the Chiefs defense stepped up after halftime ready for Brock Purdy as Patrick Mahomes led his team to overtime. It was a battle of field goals in the second half as teams were equally matched, but the 49ers final three points were not enough to win and San Francisco was unprepared in overtime as some admitted.
“There’s just a couple plays where I feel like defense got the stops like they needed to and then our first couple plays were just either negative or we’re not moving the ball,” Purdy said about the slow second half start.
Purdy completed 23 of 38 passes for 225 yards and threw one touchdown and zero interceptions. Mahomes completed 34 of 46 passes for 333 yards and threw two touchdowns and one interception.
It was a beautiful and sunny game to end the week after several cold and rainy days in Las Vegas, which hosted the game for the first time. It was also the first time teams have met at the big game since Super Bowl LIV in 2020, when the Chiefs won.
The 49ers showed up with both defense and impressive offensive plays early on, but the Chiefs defense stepped up after halftime ready for Brock Purdy as Patrick Mahomes led his team to overtime. It was a battle of field goals in the second half as teams were equally matched, but the 49ers final three points were not enough to win and San Francisco was unprepared in overtime as some admitted.
“There’s just a couple plays where I feel like defense got the stops like they needed to and then our first couple plays were just either negative or we’re not moving the ball,” Purdy said about the slow second half start.
Purdy completed 23 of 38 passes for 225 yards and threw one touchdown and zero interceptions. Mahomes completed 34 of 46 passes for 333 yards and threw two touchdowns and one interception.
It was a beautiful and sunny game to end the week after several cold and rainy days in Las Vegas, which hosted the game for the first time. It was also the first time teams have met at the big game since Super Bowl LIV in 2020, when the Chiefs won.
Tashaun Gipson Sr. spoke about their comeback win. “The emotions were all over the place: from super low, super confused, super frustrated, to just the joyous moment once that score hit 24-24,” he said. “It was just a surreal moment.”
This time the 49ers led 10-3 at half time after a 55-yard field goal by K Jake Moody and a beautiful trick play touchdown from Purdy to WR Jauan Jennings to RB Christian McCaffrey with an extra point. It was a scoreless third quarter for the team. Yet in the fourth quarter Purdy found Jennings for a touchdown, but the extra point was blocked. Moody kicked a field goal for their final points in the fourth quarter, but the Chiefs matched their field goal to tie the game at 19 before overtime.
It was the second overtime in NFL Super Bowl history (the last in 2017) and the overtime rule in effect. Kyle Shannahan chose to take the ball first and go for a field goal. “You know that none of us have a ton of experience of it but we went through all the analytics and talked with those guys and we just thought it would be better, we just wanted the ball third,” he said. “We got that field goal, so we knew we had to hold them to at least a field goal. And if we did then we thought it was in our hands after that.”
There was some uncertainty with the overtime rules. “I wasn’t aware of it,” said DL Arik Armstead about whether coaching staff let them know about the new overtime rule.
San Francisco’s defense had 88 combined tackles and assists and three quarterback sacks. The Chiefs had 74 combined tackles and assists and one quarterback sack.
“I thought our guys played so hard today not everything was perfect by any means, but if I’m going to lose with a group of guys, I’d do it with those guys any time and we’ll get over this and come back next year ready to go,” said Coach Shanahan.
