49ers vs. Chiefs: Recent matchups haven’t been kind to San Francisco

The 49ers have had a ton of trouble beating the Chiefs in recent years.

The 49ers and Chiefs will face off in Super Bowl LVIII in what defensive end Nick Bosa called a perfect matchup for San Francisco.

Bosa was referring not necessarily to the head-to-head matchup between the clubs, but rather the chance for his club to cap their tough road back to the Super Bowl with some redemption against the team that defeated them in Super Bowl LIV to cap the 2019 season.

As for the head-to-head matchup, that one hasn’t been kind to the 49ers since the turn of the century. Here’s a look at each showdown between San Francisco and Kansas City since the year 2000:

CB Charvarius Ward reveals Chiefs game plan vs. 49ers in Super Bowl

49ers CB Charvarius Ward, who was on the Chiefs team that beat San Francisco in the Super Bowl, revealed via @tidalleague what KC’s game plan was:

While several 49ers are on a quest to avenge their Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs after the 2019 season, cornerback Charvarius Ward finds himself in a different boat. Ward was part of that Kansas City team that came back from a 20-10 deficit to defeat the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV.

In an appearance on ‘Third and Long,’ Ward revealed that the 49ers played right into the Chiefs’ defense’s hands when they abandoned their run game in the fourth quarter.

“The game plan was to put the ball in Jimmy (Garoppolo)’s hands, man,” Ward told Third and Long host, 49ers defensive tackle Arik Armstead. “I hate to say this. Our game plan was to put the ball in Jimmy’s hands, but Kyle Shanahan, he was just calling run after run. For some reason in the fourth quarter they stopped running the ball, and we kinda took over a little bit.

“I don’t want to say too much about it because I’m part of the organization now. Going into the game we were extremely confident, but once y’all came out doing all that y’all were doing, we were like ‘(expletive) these boys are kinda good. We gotta like man up and thud up.’ And that’s kinda like what we did in the fourth quarter.”

It was clear in the fourth quarter that Kansas City was focused on stopping the 49ers’ rushing attack. Defensive end Terrell Suggs, at that point in his career a run stopper, spent a ton of time on the field to try and help a defense that allowed 88 rushing yards on 12 first-half carries. Through three quarters the 49ers had 109 rushing yards on 17 attempts. San Francisco won the third quarter 10-0 to take a 20-10 lead into the final 15 minutes.

That’s when the Chiefs’ plan to put the ball in Garoppolo’s hands worked. By selling out to stop the run they pushed Shanahan into a pass-happy set of play calls. The 49ers in the fourth quarter ran it five times for 39 yards.

After the Chiefs made it 20-17, the 49ers ran it once with RB Raheem Mostert for five yards. Then they threw it twice, both incomplete, and punted.

Kansas City then made it 24-20 with 2:44 to go. Mostert again opened the drive with a 17-yard run. A false start on WR Emmanuel Sanders made it first-and-15, but the 49ers still managed to get a first down at the Chiefs’ 49 after a couple throws. They never ran it again and turned it over on downs, effectively ending the game.

It was pretty clear during the game what Kansas City (and any team playing the 49ers) wanted to do to defend them, and Ward’s confirmation just makes it all the more baffling that the 49ers would so willingly play into their hands.

Perhaps a more dynamic passing attack with Brock Purdy under center will help the 49ers avoid becoming too one-dimensional because of defensive personnel.

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Matthew Stafford had such a sweet moment with his wife and kids after Super Bowl win

What a moment for the Staffords.

Matthew Stafford is a Super Bowl champion, finally.

The former Detroit Lions QB finished off his first season in Los Angeles by doing what the Rams and their fans hoped he would do – lead the team to a Super Bowl win with three touchdown passes in a 23-20 win over Joe Burrow and the Bengals.

Stafford had pressure on him to win a Super Bowl ever since the Rams traded for him and he delivered, which must feel pretty fantastic.

After the game he was able to have a special moment with his wife and kids as he made his way to his press conference.

How great is this:

What a night. And what a year for the Staffords.

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Joe Burrow wore his flashy pregame suit after Super Bowl loss and NFL fans crushed him for it

Burrow probably should have brought a second outfit to Super Bowl 56.

Joe Burrow showed up to the Super Bowl in Los Angeles wearing a black and white striped suit that got everyone’s attention when he arrived at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.

The second-year QB has become known for his style and the look lived up to the hype surrounding what he’d wear to the biggest game of his life.

Burrow, however, wasn’t able to lead the Chiefs to a win over the Rams, as Matthew Stafford won his first Lombardi Trophy with a 23-20 win that wasn’t secured until a game-winning scoring drive in the final minutes.

After the game, Burrow was seen leaving the stadium in that same suit that he showed up in:

Should he have had a second pair of clothes to change into in case he lost? Probably.

NFL fans were relentless:

This time-lapse video of the Super Bowl 56 halftime show being set up is pretty sweet

This was fast!

The Super Bowl 56 halftime show was pretty darn awesome tonight at SoFi with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick putting on a show in front of a fired up crowd in Los Angeles.

Oh, and they were joined by special guest 50 Cent, which was pretty cool, too.

You know what else was awesome? How fast the grounds crew was able to put together the whole setup for the show, which had to happen quickly because time is of the essence during the halftime break.

Check out a time-lapse video of how the setup got done.

These folks are fast!

Impressive!

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Cris Collinsworth kicked off Super Bowl 56 with a very special ‘Collinsworth slide’ and fans got emotional

Was this a sad, final slide?

NBC is broadcasting tonight’s Super Bowl, which means Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth – two of the best announcers in all of sports – are on the call, which is always a good thing for football fans.

You know what that also means? Collinsworth got to start things off with one of his slides, which is a fun/silly thing that fans have fallen in love with over the years.

Well, this one might have been extra special because it’s feeling like this might be Michaels’ last game on NBC and his last game with Collinsworth. He even seemed to tease his exit by saying before the slide: “Slide in for one final time.”

Check this out:

Fans were emotional about it:

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Super Bowl 56 concession stand prices at SoFi: $25 cocktails and $17 Michelob Ultras

Things are a bit pricey at SoFi.

We’re just a few hours away from the Bengals and Rams kicking off Super Bowl 56 inside what is a very warm SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, as temperatures are supposed to be in the mid-80s around the start of the game.

Fans attending the game can cool down with a lot of different options at concession stands around the stadium, though it’s going to be a pricey experience. Cocktails on tap are going for as low as $20 bucks, with some other special drinks going for $25.

If you like beers you might want to take it easy on the Michelob Ultras because they’re going to run you $17 bucks a pop.

Here are some samples of the prices around SoFi:

It’s LA, so of course a kale salad is one of the cheaper things available.

But yeah, drinks are gonna cost ya.

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Bruce Arians shows off Bucs’ Super Bowl tattoo

Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians followed through on his word and got a tattoo

Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians has some new body art to go with the Super Bowl championship and ring he will eventually receive.

The coach took to social media on Tuesday to display the great tattoo he got to celebrate the Bucs’ championship.

Great art work to go with a tremendous job on the field by Arians and his organization.

We did not get nearly enough Colgate this March

Arkansas went into bully mode and made sure we didn’t get our first Cinderella of March Madness.

I blame the bracket makers.

Colgate should have been higher than a 14-seed. But the committee didn’t see it like that, and instead of getting a shot at upsetting an unsuspecting 4- or 5-seed, the Raiders had to take on an Arkansas team that just happened to be the worst possible matchup for them.

Initially, it looked like it wouldn’t matter. Colgate showed it was capable of matching Arkansas shot-for-shot, and one stretch of hot shooting helped build a 14-point lead in the first half.

And then Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman realized he had the far more talented team, turned up the pressure and immediately sparked a 20-0 run. A mini-surge to start the second half put Colgate back in the lead but Arkansas’ pressure just overwhelmed the underdogs down the stretch in an 85-68 win in the first round of the Men’s NCAA Tournament.

But we’ll always have that 14-point lead. The crazy thing is, Colgate’s best player, Jordan Burns, didn’t really help build it. Despite some impressive displays of ball-handling, the small guard didn’t make a single shot during the first half. Luckily, contributions from true freshman Jeff Woodward and sharpshooters Nelly Cummings and Jack Furgeson helped to make up for the team’s star laying an egg over the first 20 minutes.

The lumbering big man Woodward was especially entertaining. His old school (slow) game threw off the Razorback bigs, who probably did see a lot of up-and-under moves and hook shots during the regular season. After one post bucket, the Colgate big man lowered his hand to the floor, telling the near-empty Bankers Life Field House that these Arkansas dudes were too small to guard him.

It turned out, the Razorbacks weren’t too small. They started getting the ball inside where they got easy buckets or kick-out opportunities for open 3s. That combined with the full-court pressure was too much for Colgate, which committed 22 turnovers and sent the favorites to the line 29 times. Both are out of character for this Raiders team, which finished fifth nationally in offensive turnover rate and 34th in defensive free throw rate, per Ken Pom.

That first stat is especially impressive because the Raiders play so fast. They played at the 25th-quickest pace in the country, and that speed typically overwhelmed opponents. But Arkansas plays even faster (17th in pace) so it was perfectly suited to handle it, and may have even had the advantage. Its swarming defense forced Colgate to turn it over on 28.2% of its possessions, a season high.

The SEC runners-up also had a pair of pestering guards, Davonte Davis and J.D. Notae, who could make things more difficult on Burns. He eventually adjusted and hit a few DEEP 3s in the second half, but this was always going to be a tough matchup for him. It’s just a shame we won’t see more of this…

With a lead guard who can score and distribute, a pair of 3-point shooters on the wing, a skilled big man with a funky game AND a unique style of play that would be hard to prepare for on shirt notice, Colgate had all the ingredients to go on a deep run.

But an awful first-round matchup prevented it from ever getting started, which will make this March a little less entertaining.

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What running backs have had 100-yard games in the Super Bowl?

What running backs have broken the 100-yard mark in Super Bowl history? The record-holder is a surprise, Washington’s Tim Smith.