49ers left to wonder what could have been as Chiefs celebrate
SANTA CLARA >> As the Chiefs paraded the Lombardi Trophy through downtown Kansas City on Wednesday, the 49ers were like 30 other NFL teams wondering the same thing:
Are the Chiefs an immovable object atop the league's pedestal?
“When I envision us back in the Super Bowl, I do envision it probably against them, because of what they have there,” 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk said Tuesday as he and his teammates cleaned out their lockers.
By virtue of Sunday night's 25-22 overtime win in Super Bowl LVIII, the Chiefs became the first franchise to back-to-back Super Bowls since the 2003-04 New England Patriots. Of course, Patrick Mahomes' first championship came four years ago, in another comeback win over the 49ers, 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV.
“There's a reason they're so successful,” Juszczyk added. “Patrick Mahomes, going to go down as one of the best players in the NFL. They do it with a really good defense. They have incredible coaching. That's usually the type of teams you'll have to play in the Super Bowl.”
Next year's Super Bowl is Feb. 9 in New Orleans. No franchise has won three in a row. Are the Chiefs the team to beat next season?
“Everybody in the league probably thinks that,” defensive end Nick Bosa said.
Left tackle Trent Williams wasn't about to diminish the Chiefs' championship, saying: “They won the Super Bowl. They beat us. They beat Baltimore (in the AFC Championship Game). They beat everybody. You've got to say they're the best.”
Limiting the NFC champion 49ers to 22 points — 19 in regulation – was a Chiefs defense coordinated by Steve Spagnuolo, who received a contract extension Wednesday.
“Whatever our call was, and them playing man (coverage), maybe it was something we weren't expecting a lot of. Credit to the Chiefs' secondary,” Brock Purdy said. “They did a good job with getting their hands on guys early and being sticky, and being right on them.”
The forward-thinking Purdy is anticipating whether Super Bowl
LVIII might serve as a blueprint on how to slow a 49ers offense that has all starters at the skill position under contract for 2024, including AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey and fellow AllPros in Juszczyk, Williams and tight end George Kittle, as well as Purdy and starting wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel.
“We all have to learn from it and understand what we can do better next time, because I feel teams will obviously watch it and try to have that kind of plan for the next season,” Purdy said. “We have to learn from it. Regardless, we still had opportunities to win the game outside of them playing man coverage. They did it well. Credit to them.”
Kittle said he had not thought about yet another Super Bowl rematch with the Chiefs. The idea of another title run was not a pipe dream, however.
“We have a lot of guys who are still under contract,” Kittle said. “Brock's on his rookie deal. We have a lot of guys who play football at a very high level. I have Nick Bosa coming back, right?
Yeah, we can win a lot of football games.”
Bosa, said he has no plans to watch the season-ending loss “until next year.”
Kyle Shanahan pushed back at the perception he can't win the big one, seeing as he's 0-2 as the 49ers' coach in the Super Bowl and served as the 2016 Atlanta Falcons' offensive coordinator in their Super Bowl
collapse to the Patriots.
“The fact that we keep getting there shows you guys how much we've been able to win big games and I think you guys are aware of that,” Shanahan said Tuesday. “But these two Super Bowls have been tough losing to Kansas City.
“But to think that if we win that, it means I can win a big game? No, that means our team won the Super Bowl. That's what I understand,” Shanahan added. “You guys can have any narrative you want, but the success or the failure, it comes down to one game and I hope that I can be a part of a team that wins a game at the end of the year, but to say that the Niners can't win a big game would be an extremely inaccurate statement.”
With that, Shanahan and general manager John Lynch ended their press conference inside Levi's Stadium's auditorium and headed into yet another Lombardi-less offseason.
Lynch, earlier, testified to the 49ers' talent, spirit and character that made them title contenders.
“So to come up short, that's difficult,” Lynch said. “I think you've got to hats off to the Chiefs, to Andy (Reid), to the organization, and they've got a pretty special guy, at quarterback. He's tough to beat.
“We've got to live with that for a lifetime,” Lynch said. “But I think knowing how good this team was, our team, and to have those chances and not to come up, that makes it very difficult.”