A BITTER END
49ers denied their sixth Super Bowl title when Chiefs' Mahomes throws TD pass in overtime
For a 29th consecutive season, the trophy case in the 49ers' Santa Clara lobby won't need to expand for a long-awaited sixth Lombardi Trophy.
The Kansas City Chiefs repeated as Super Bowl champions Sunday night by outlasting the 49ers 25-22 in a thrilling overtime game at Allegiant Stadium.
Patrick Mahomes ruined the 49ers' Super Bowl hopes for the second time in four years, this time saving his game-winning ways for a touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman with three seconds remaining in the first quarter of overtime. Hardman slipped past nickel back Logan Ryan to get wide open, and as he crossed the goal line, 49ers linebacker Fred Warner tossed his helmet to the ground in dismay.
That capped a 75-yard touchdown drive, which followed the 49ers' field goal on the opening possession of overtime.
Mahomes passed for 333 yards (34-of-46, two touchdowns, an interception by Ji'Ayir Brown), but it was his 66 rushing yards (nine carries) that finished off the 49ers. Mahomes snuck past Nick Bosa for an 8-yard gain on fourth-andinches to keep alive the winning drive, and he used his legs on a third-and-1 scramble to reach the 49ers' 13.
Brock Purdy's Super Bowl debut saw him pass for 255 yards (23-of-38). Jauan Jennings accounted for a touchdown pass and a touchdown catch, while Christian McCaffrey produced 80 yards both rushing and receiving.
The 49ers scored on the opening possession of overtime, driving 7 1/2 minutes for a 27-yard field goal by rookie Jake Moody to take the 22-19 lead. The series series was initially bailed out by a Chiefs holding penalty and a Brandon Aiyuk third-down conversion. McCaffrey juked safety Mike Edwards for a 24-yard catch-andrun to set up Moody's kick.
The game — and the lead — changed in a stunning two-play sequence just before the fourth quarter.
After a Chiefs punt clanked off 49ers rookie Darrell Luter and Ray-Ray McCloud couldn't scoop it up, the Chiefs promptly converted that turnover into Mahomes' 16-yard touchdown pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling (over linebacker Oren Burks).
Just like that, it was Kansas City 13, 49ers 10.
The Chiefs had erased a 10-point deficit — as they did four years earlier in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LIV against the 49ers.
The Chiefs pulled within 10-6 on Harrison Butker's 57-yard field goal, five minutes before the fourth quarter. The 49ers forced that Super Bowl-record distance with a third-down stop, which came while a fan ran onto the field and was tackled by security 50 yards behind the play.
Whereas the Chiefs scored off a third-quarter turnover, the 49ers failed to do so, with their offense going 3-and-out after rookie safety Brown intercepted Mahomes' third-down pass just after Usher's halftime show.
The 49ers retook the lead on Purdy's 10-yard touchdown pass to Jennings, who broke two tackles to cross the goal line, two plays after Purdy completed a fourthand-3 conversion pass to George Kittle.
The 49ers' lead held at 16-13, however, when Moody's point-after attempt was blocked.
That lead lasted just 5 1/2 minutes, when a big goal-line stand and Javon Hargrave's third-down sack force the Chiefs to settle for a 24-yard field goal, tying the score at 16 with 5:46 left in regulation.
Moody snapped a 16-16 tie on his 53-yard field goal with 1:53 remaining, a pressure-packed kick that followed him getting a pointafter attempt blocked earlier in the quarter. Purdy took the 49ers down the field with key passes to Jennings and Deebo Samuel, but a third-down pass fell incomplete just after the two-minute warning, summoning Moody for his kick — and Mahomes for his answer.
Mahomes, predictably, led the Chiefs downfield for a score, but it was merely a 29-yard field goal to tie with three seconds left in regulation. The Chiefs were in position for a winning touchdown, thanks to Travis Kelce racing past linebacker Warner for a 23yard gain to the 11, with 10 seconds left. Warner responded by blanketing Kelce to prevent a Mahomes' touchdown pass at the front left corner.
It was only the second Super Bowl to reach overtime, the first being seven years ago, when the Falcons blew a 25-point lead to the Patriots in Kyle Shanahan's finale as their offensive coordinator before he was hired as 49ers coach.
The 49ers dominated the first half, but it took a bit of trickery in Sin City to come up with the game's first touchdown, a 21-yard touchdown pass from Jennings to McCaffrey 4:23 before halftime, for a 10-0 lead.
Jennings, the 49ers' No. 3 receiver and third-down specialist, caught a backward pass from Purdy, then, channeling his Tennessee high school quarterback days, threw across the field to McCaffrey, who dashed untouched to the end zone thanks to blocks by linemen Aaron Banks, Spencer Burford and Colton McKivitz.
Moody's point-after kick made it a 10-point lead.
The 49ers defense came through in the clutch throughout the first half, including Arik Armstead's biggest sack of his nineyear career. Armstead pancaked Mahomes on third-and-5 from the 49ers' 9-yard line, forcing the Chiefs to settle for a Butker field goal that snapped the shutout bid but reduced the 49ers' lead to just 10-3 with 20 seconds until halftime.
Another huge play inside the 10-yard line came earlier in the second quarter: Deommodore Lenoir stripped the ball from Isiah Pacheco (with an assist from Chase Young), and Javon Hargrave recovered at the 8-yard line. On the previous play, Mecole Hardman beat the 49ers' safeties for a 53-yard reception.
He was not the first starting running back to fumble: McCaffrey's fumble at the Chiefs' 27yard line spoiled what had been a fabulous opening drive of the game with three plays over 10 yards. The 49ers defense bailed out McCaffrey, violently forcing a three-and-out on the Chiefs' first possession.
A bizarre Achilles injury forced linebacker Dre Greenlaw to the 49ers' locker room before halftime. Greenlaw injured his left