Before both teams met for the big game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday, it seemed as if all of the odds were stacked against San Francisco both on and off the field, even despite them being 2-point favorites among oddsmakers. It all started with UNLV's outdoor training facility where the 49ers were appointed to practice despite being none too pleased with the field conditions. If the rainy weather wasn't enough cause for concern, the league's decision to slap sod on top of UNLV's artificial turf just a week earlier might've done the trick. Coupled with the rain, the sod-artificial turf combination resulted in a spongy loose field that team officials stressed could result in devastating injuries. Thankfully, no injuries were reported, but all the meanwhile, the Chiefs were given the keys to practice at the new shiny indoor digs of the rival Las Vegas Raiders. Shanahan and the 49ers brought up their beef with the field to the league office during their walk thru leading up to the big game, but commissioner Roger Goodell basically told them to deal with it, calling the field conditions "adequate", even after the NFL Players Association also expressed their concern with the field not being up to league standard and responding, "adequate isn't good enough." The 49ers were given the ultimatum of sharing the Raiders facility with the Chiefs, but Kansas City rejected the idea which came as little to no surprise. Because why would they give up their edge if they aren't being forced to? No team would happily give up an advantage before the biggest game of the season.
Then came the fire alarms that were pulled at the 49ers' hotel in the middle of the night in the days leading up to the big game, which we all know was no accident, including Niners running back Christian McCaffrey who was none too pleased of being awoken in the wee hours of the night and said it was no coincidence. While the prank is one of the oldest tricks in the book, the fire alarms at the Chiefs' hotel seemed to be just fine just a stone's throw away, as both teams stayed outside of the city at nearby Lake Las Vegas. But once the game started, all of those excuses went out the window and a litany of other unfortunate events took place on the field for the 49ers, from costly mistakes to missed opportunities, but perhaps none greater than an injury that occurred on the sideline that resulted in one of San Francisco's best players on defense to have to leave the game in the first half.
With Kansas City winning the coin-toss and electing to differ, the 49er offense began to roll and were knocking on the doorstep of an opening-drive score until the unthinkable happened. After marching 48-yards on six plays, McCaffrey fumbled for only the third time all season, ingulfing San Francisco's drive and ending any chance of taking an early lead. Thankfully, the 49er defense prevented Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense from taking an early lead of their own, something teams had failed to do in eight straight tries as Kansas City had their streak of 8 straight postseason games with an opening-drive score come to an end. With the early turnover costing them on their first possession, back-to-back penalties on left-tackle Trent Williams doomed the 49ers on their second drive. Hoping the third time would be a charm, the San Francisco offense got on the board thanks to rookie kicker Jake Moody's 55-yard field goal which set a record for the longest made field goal in Super Bowl history, but not before the first scoreless opening quarter to a Super Bowl in 5 years since Patriots-Rams were knotted up at zeroes in 2019.
Exchanging blows with the Chiefs on defense, Mahomes launched a 52-yard bomb down the field to his receiver Mecole Hardman who came down with the grab and put his team inside the red zone. Within striking distance, Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco was stripped of the ball for a fumble recovered by the defense. Dialing up a bit of trickery two possessions later, the 49ers dealt the first haymaker with a pass from quarterback Brock Purdy to receiver Juaun Jennings who took his time to collect and gather before launching a pass across the field to McCaffrey who galloped ahead for a 21-yard touchdown. With San Francisco jumping out to a 10-0 lead, the Chiefs also began to march, but sputtered once they made it into the red zone and were forced to settle for a field goal to cut the deficit to 7 just before the half. While Shanahan's 49ers did not get off to the slow start that dug them an early hole in each of their previous two playoff games leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, they squandered opportunities early and often to take a more commanding lead.
With the early blow felt by the McCaffrey fumble on the opening-drive, no blow in the first half would be worse than the loss of 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw who was injured on the sideline with what was later confirmed to be a torn Achillies. In what could be described as a complete freak accident, Greenlaw suffered the injury while running back onto the field after a San Francisco punt. It was at that moment that although the 49ers were leading by a score of 10-3, anything that could go wrong would. Shock and fear swept through the Niner defense as the medical cart came out onto the field, leaving fellow linebacker Fred Warner and teammate Nick Bosa in utter disbelief as the two were shown trying to console one another on the sideline after having just witnessed one of their leaders and best friend's being carted off. Unfortunately, a whole other half of football remained to be played, with or without one of the San Francisco defense's most integral pieces.
After a strong showing on defense in the first half, the 49ers came out of halftime with another impressive start when rookie safety Ji'Ayir Brown intercepted Mahomes to open the second half. Following a trio of punts, Kansas City was able to chip away at the deficit once more, this time on a 57-yard Harrison Butker field goal that set a new Super Bowl record, surpassing Moody's mark from 55-yards just a quarter earlier. After exchanging punts, San Francisco's Achilles heel on special-teams reared its ugly head once again. Reminiscent of the Kyle Williams blunder that plagued the Niners in the 2011 NFC Championship game against the New York Giants, San Francisco fumbled away a key punt return that kicked off the leg of rookie Darrell Luter Jr. who was back to block on the return and had no idea where the ball was. Return man Ray-Ray McCloud made an attempt to scoop up the ball but was unable to get a clean recovery as the Chiefs made out with possession. One play later, Mahomes would find receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling wide-open in the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown.
The turnover turned touchdown would be a tough pill to swallow for San Francisco especially because of the fits they had given Kansas City's offense up to that point, as the Chiefs' first nine possessions up to that point resulted in: punt, punt, fumble, punt, field goal, interception, punt, field goal, punt. Following the gift touchdown that gave Kansas City their first lead of the game at 13-10, Brock Purdy and company got going with their best offensive drive yet. Capping off a 14-play, 75-yard drive to open the fourth quarter, San Francisco regained the lead after Purdy connected with receiver Jauaun Jennings on a 10-yard touchdown. Unfortunately, Jake Moody's extra-point attempt would be blocked, keeping the Chiefs within a field goal as the Niners now led 16-13. Able to tie the game at 16-all with a field goal on Kansas City's next drive, the game that started off scoreless through the first quarter and turned into a punt frenzy, suddenly evolved into a back-and-forth chess match.
The Niners would take another lead on another long field goal by kicker Jake Moody who split the uprights from beyond 50-yards for a second time and had hoped a stop on defense would seal the win. Instead, 1:57 remaining in regulation would prove to be too much for Mahomes and company as the Chiefs answered with a field goal of their own with just 3-seconds left, sending the game into only the second overtime game in Super Bowl history and first since Patriots & Falcons in 2017 which also featured Kyle Shanahan during his time as offensive coordinator with Atlanta. Coincidentally, the only other overtime game in the career of 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy also took place in Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium versus the Raiders on New Years Day 2023. It would also be the first playoff game to be played in overtime since the NFL adopted new playoff overtime rules in March of 2022. Winning the coin-toss, San Francisco elected to receive the ball, a decision sited by coach Shanahan that he wanted to possess the ball third in the event that both teams answered one another with a touchdown. Unfortunately for them, the game would not get that far.
The 49ers appeared to be in the driver's seat on their overtime possession, going on a 17-play drive that tallied 76-yards and lasted over seven and a half minutes. Making it into the red zone, San Francisco's promising drive stalled at the Kansas City 9 yard line where McCaffrey was held to no gain on 2nd down and a key missed block on 3rd down by the Niners offensive-line allowed for a free rush from Chiefs defender Chris Jones who was able to disrupt the time of Purdy who appeared to have a Jennings wide-open on the right side with a clear path to the end zone. Settling for a field goal, 7:22 of game-clock stood between the 49ers and a sixth Lombardi Trophy. With their backs against the wall, the Chiefs began their overtime possession with a 4th and 1, but an 8-yard scamper by Mahomes kept the drive and the game alive for K.C. From that point on, you could feel the game slipping away for the 49ers as Mahomes converted on another big third down with his legs, this time rushing for 19-yards to pick up the first down. Three plays later with just 0:06 seconds remaining in overtime, Mahomes hit receiver Mecole Hardman from 3-yards out for the game-winning touchdown.
At the end of the day, a lot of fingers have been pointed at coach Shanahan for electing to receive the ball entering overtime, but the truth of the matter is the offense failed to make it into the end zone and the defense failed to get a stop. Numerous Kansas City players also claim head coach Andy Reid had planned to go for a two-point conversion even if SF opened the OT period with a touchdown. While Reid becomes just the 5th head coach in NFL history with 3 Super Bowl titles under his belt, Shanahan and the 49ers are still left seeking their first. The 49ers had the Chiefs against the ropes multiple times late in both regulation and in overtime, but in the end, it was not meant to be. Looking ahead, the 49ers will hope to capture a third consecutive NFC Western Division title, but will have plenty of competition between both the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams who have been reloading on young talent and are looking to take advantage on what many believe is a closing window for the 49ers' core players.
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