Super 4th-quarter meltdown weighs heavily on Jimmy G
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The parade the San Francisco 49ers had hoped to be enjoying was being held a couple thousand miles away in Kansas City.
Instead of celebrating a recordtying sixth Super Bowl title that seemed so close, the Niners spent the morning Wednesday packing up their lockers, saying goodbyes and wondering how what seemed to be a safe 10-point fourth-quarter lead disappeared so quickly in a 31-20 loss to the Chiefs.
“As an offense, as a team we’ve been in that situation multiple times and we answered the bell,” quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said. “It’s tough when that one time you didn’t. That’s what people will remember. It’s the world we live in. You just have to own up to it and be a man about it. It will fuel us in the offseason, fuel me in the offseason to come back better.”
A remarkable turnaround season filled with memorable moments as the 49ers (15-4) became the third team ever to make the Super Bowl following a season with four or fewer wins, ended only in disappointment.
Garoppolo and the offense fell flat in the fourth quarter, the defense couldn’t stop Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense and the Niners became the third team to lose a Super Bowl after leading by at least 10 points in the second half.
“It’s like watching the ‘Titanic,’” receiver Emmanuel Sanders said about watching the film. “You hope the ship don’t sink. For some reason, the ship keeps sinking over and over.”
Garoppolo completed only two of his final 10 passes down the stretch. SUPER WAGERING: Business was brisk at sportsbooks around the country on Super Bowl Sunday, with customers risking money on everything from the coin toss at the start of the game, to the color of the Gatorade dumped on the winning coach at the end of it.
Revenue reports began trickling in Monday evening, including the $54.2 million wagered by gamblers in New Jersey, the state whose U.S. Supreme Court victory in 2018 cleared the way for the expansion of legal sports betting to many parts of the country. That total surpassed the $34.8 million New Jersey gamblers bet on the Super Bowl last year.
New Jersey’s 10 retail sportsbooks and 19 sports wagering mobile applications lost $4.28 million, for a negative hold percentage of 7.8%
Nevada, the country’s largest sports betting market, said it will not release its figures until Tuesday because one of its licensees had technical problems while compiling data. But MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment both reported multimillion-dollar wins from the game.
Mississippi regulators reported taking in $6.7 million worth of bets on this year’s game, but did not immediately calculate how much of that was paid out to customers who made winning bets.
In Rhode Island, the beloved New England Patriots were not in the Super Bowl for the first time in four years, and gamblers showed less interest in betting on someone other than Tom Brady. The $5.5 million wagered was about 84% of the $6.5 million wagered last year when the Patriots beat the Rams.
Pennsylvania said it would release its Super Bowl betting numbers on Tuesday and several other states, including New York and New Mexico, said they do not calculate Super Bowl bets separately.
BROWNS: At just 32, Andrew Berry is believed to be the youngest GM in NFL history and he’s returned to Cleveland after one season in Philadelphia to encounter some familiar problems with the Browns, who remain unstable, underachieving despite a talented roster and without a playoff appearance since 2002.
Berry said he returned to the team in part for a chance to work with new coach Kevin Stefanski, who was hired last month after 13 seasons in Minnesota. Stefanski’s only 37, giving Cleveland a fresh, young duo of decision-makers the Browns hope can grow and thrive together for years.
Berry joked he didn’t receive an upgraded parking space upon his return to Cleveland, where he was vice president of player personnel from 2016-18 under GM Sashi Brown. During that span, the Browns went 1-15, 0-16.
RAIDERS: Las Vegas hired exDallas defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli on Wednesday as its defensive line coach.