49ers’ great turnaround season pulls up short in Super Bowl

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers' remarkable turnaround ended up just a few minutes shy of a Super Bowl title.

After becoming only the third team to go to the Super Bowl a year after winning four or fewer games, the 49ers stumbled at the end and lost 31-20 to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night.

"It was a great season," linebacker Fred Warner said. "I can't take anything away from what we've done. To go 4-12 and then go to the Super Bowl and have a chance to win in it, it's one of those things that will hurt for a while. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure we're better."

The Niners (15-4) were poised to join the 1999 St. Louis Rams as the only teams to win a Super Bowl a year after going 4-12. Instead, they join the 1988 Bengals as a four-win team that came so close to a championship a year later but faltered at the end.

In this same stadium 21 years ago, Joe Montana and San Francisco drove past Cincinnati for the winning score in a 20-16 victory.

The collapse for this version of the Niners was on both sides of the ball.

The offense fell apart in the fourth quarter and the defense got burned for big plays by Patrick Mahomes that turned a 20-10 lead into a 31-20 loss in the blink of an eye in a crushing loss.

"You could see it in the guys eyes in there. It means something to guys," quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said.

"That means you've got guys that care about what they're doing, guys who care about each other. We're a young team and we've got a very bright future. We've got to take this in stride and remember this feeling and let it fuel us in the offseason."

JIMMY G

Garoppolo's first full season as a starter had ups and downs. He led the team to 13 wins in the regular season with four fourth-quarter comebacks and three games with at least four TD passes. But he also showed a propensity for baffling mistakes. His 18 turnovers in the regular season were the most of any player in the postseason, and then he threw two interceptions in the Super Bowl.

REMARKABLE ROOKIES

A big reason for optimism for the Niners was the play of their top two picks in the 2019 draft. No. 2 overall pick Nick Bosa became a dominant defensive end, making nine sacks in the regular season and four more in the playoffs on the way to winning AP