The 49ers blew a 10-point fourth quarter lead and lost Super Bowl LIV 31-20 to the Kansas City Chiefs. Here are our notes and observations from throughout the game:
– The 49ers won the opening toss and deferred. That’s what they’ve done all year, but choosing to receive against a high-octane offense like Kansas City’s would’ve made sense.
– It’s Damien Williams on a toss for a gain of seven on the first play. Dre Greenlaw got to the edge for the tackle.
– Nick Bosa knocked down Patrick Mahomes’ first pass attempt.
– Incomplete from Mahomes on third down. Huge start for the 49ers’ defense.
– Near disaster as Richie James Jr. muffed the punt, but he fell on it just in time.
– Chiefs were sitting on a run on the first play and Tevin Coleman lost a yard on a toss. Not a good start.
– Play action on second down is a throw to George Kittle for 12 and a first down. They need to run that play action a lot.
– DEE. BO. 32-yard run on an end around. Sensational blocking down field, and Frank Clark got spun around for the Chiefs to open a hole for Samuel.
– Trickery this time on a toss to Samuel, and he looked like he wanted to throw it. Instead, he tucked it and ran up the middle for a first down on a third-and-2.
– First penalty of the game is an offsides on the Chiefs on a third-and-10. That set up a third-and-5 and the Chiefs’ 20. Garoppolo’s third-and-5 throw was intended for George Kittle, but the throw sailed over everyone.
– Robbie Gould hit a 38-yard field goal to cap a 10-play, 62-yard drive that ate 5:58 off the clock. It’s 3-0, 49ers.
– Mahomes’ first completion opens their second series — a nine-yard toss to Tyreek Hill.
– Now the Chiefs are rolling. They got inside the 49ers’ 15 on a toss to Travis Kelce. Kelce has two catches for 20 yards already.
– A sack! Patrick Mahomes goes down on first-and-10. DeForest Buckner got in behind him and dragged him down for a loss of a yard. Mahomes followed it with an incompletion under duress.
– Whew. Big hit by Jimmie Ward on Mahomes on a scramble pops the ball out. Mahomes got the first down, but the hit knocked the ball out behind the first-down marker. Ward was injured on the play, but jogged off to the sideline after getting attention from the medical staff.
– Damien Williams got the first down on fourth-and-1. He got inside the 1-yard-line, and the Chiefs scored two plays later on a speed option with Mahomes keeping it. It’s 7-3 with 31 seconds left in the first.
– Jimmy Garoppolo closed the first quarter with an 18-yard throw to Emmanuel Sanders down to the 49ers’ 43-yard-line. It’s 7-3, Chiefs after 14 minutes.
– Brutal. Garoppolo was hit by Chris Jones as he threw and floated a pass to nowhere. Bashaud Breeland ran under it for an easy interception. That is the type of play that loses the 49ers the game.
– First play of the drive Mahomes finds Sammy Watkins deep for 28 yards. Miscommunication by the 49ers’ secondary made for an easy completion.
– Sheldon Day and Solomon Thomas are getting worked in the middle of the line.
– Another fourth-down conversion. Damien Williams takes it on a pitch on an option. Nick Bosa hit Mahomes and Williams walked across the first-down marker.
– Tarvarius Moore?! He whacked running back Darwin Thompson on a third-and-7 throw to force a field goal after the Garoppolo interception. It’s 10-3, Chiefs.
– Deebo again. On a shovel pass he went 16 yards for a first down out to the 49ers’ 46. Now Raheem Mostert for 11 and Tevin Coleman for 17. The run game is starting to roll.
– Play action and an 11-yard catch for Samuel. What a monster game for the rookie early on. Now more play action and it’s Juszczyk for six! He made a catch short of the goal line, but plowed through three tacklers to find the end zone and tie the game 10-10. It was a seven-play, 80-yard drive.
– Arik Armstead forced Mecole Hardman to run wide and outside for a loss of six on an end around. That brought up a third-and-14, and the 49ers sniffed out a screen that went for a gain of 1. The Chiefs’ punt went into the end zone, so the 49ers will have 59 seconds and three timeouts to try and score before the half.
– Huh. Jeff Wilson Jr. on a slant for 20 yards puts the 49ers at their own 45 with 14 seconds left. Have to wonder where that was earlier in the drive.
– Wow. A soft offensive pass interference call negates a deep shot to George Kittle that would’ve put the 49ers in field goal range with six seconds left. Would’ve been a 42-yard completion and an easy field goal. Instead, the 49ers kneeled on it and will go into the half tied at 10.
– First play of the second half is a five-yard pitch and catch between Garoppolo and Sanders. Second play was a 15-yard strike to Sanders, then an end around to Samuel on a misdirection with Kittle as a lead blocker. Sweet play design there from Shanahan.
– Juszczyk again on a second-and-7 picks up 14 on a play action throw. Garoppolo did a nice job to find him between two defenders.
– Garoppolo went short to Tevin Coleman on a third-and-5 and brought up a fourth-and-2. The 49ers settled for a 42-yard field goal that put them up 13-10 with 9:29 to go in the third quarter.
– It’s too easy for the Chiefs on third down. A third-and-6 goes for an easy nine-yard completion on their first drive of the second half.
– A strip sack by Nick Bosa puts the Chiefs in a third-and-12. That’s a huge play by Bosa, who nearly had the ball pop right back up to him.
– NOW A TAKEAWAY! Fred Warner intercepts Patrick Mahomes! That’s Mahomes’ first turnover of the postseason one play after he nearly gave away a fumble. The 49ers have the ball at their own 42.
– Dee. Bo. He picks up 16 to the Chiefs’ 39 on a throw over the middle from Garoppolo.
– Now Kendrick Bourne on third-and-8. He makes a catch-and-run for 26 yards. The middle of the field is wide open.
– Bang bang. Kyle Juszczyk got it down to the 1 on his third reception of the game, then Raheem Mostert plowed in for a touchdown.
– The 49ers’ pass rush is collapsing the pocket, but Mahomes is doing a nice job finding receivers with quick throws.
– The third quarter is over. The 49ers lead by 10, but the Chiefs are driving. San Francisco may need another two touchdowns to win this.
– DeForest Buckner again! He sacked Mahomes for a loss of nine to bring up a second-and-19.
– ANOTHER PICK! TARVARIUS MOORE! That’s his first career interception. This one comes as the Chiefs got deep into 49ers territory. The biggest offensive series of the year is coming up.
– Third-and-14 goes nowhere for San Francisco with the Chiefs looking like they got away with an offsides by the defense. They punted for the first time with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. Now it’s all on the defense leading 20-10 with 8:53 to go and the Chiefs taking over at their own 17.
– There it is. The deep shot to Tyreek Hill. He hit Hill for 44 yards on a third-and-15. That’s a brutal blown coverage by San Francisco at the worst time.
– Pass interference on Tarvarius Moore in the end zone on third-and-15. Moore never turned his head. More catastrophic mistakes in the secondary.
– Travis Kelce on a one-yard score. It’s 20-17. Biggest drive of Jimmy Garoppolo’s life coming up.
– A quick three-and-out. Not ideal. The Chiefs blitzed Garoppolo twice and forced a couple bad throws. It looked like Garoppolo had Kittle wide open over the middle, but airmailed a pass for Sanders.
– The 49ers would have eight or more sacks with any other quarterback. Mahomes has been magnificent navigating the pocket.
– Richard Sherman got beat deep by Sammy Watkins. The Chiefs are down to the 49ers’ 10 for 38 yards.
– It’s another touchdown for Damien Williams. 24-20 Chiefs. The 49ers nearly had a stop on third-and-goal, but Williams just beat Richard Sherman to the edge and snuck the ball over the line. San Francisco will have just over 2:40 left when they take over.
– 2:39 left. The 49ers have it at their own 15 needing a touchdown.
– A big run by Mostert picks up 17 to the 49ers’ 32 to start the series. Then Emmanuel Sanders was flagged for a false start. They cannot have that on this series.
– Now on first-and-15, it’s Garoppolo to Kittle for 8 yards to take it to the two-minute warning.
– Bourne for 16 and a first down coming out of the two-minute warning.
– Back-to-back incompletions brings up third-and-10. A bomb to Emmanuel Sanders fell incomplete. Now it’s fourth-and-10. And a sack. That’s probably ball game.
– A Damien Williams touchdown ices it. 31-20, Chiefs.
– And an interception by Kendall Fuller on a deep shot to Kendrick Bourne ends this one.