Patrick Mahomes earned the Super Bowl MVP award after leading the Chiefs back from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter against the 49ers, but San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo still had multiple opportunities down the stretch to potentially seal a victory.
Through a combination of the Chiefs’ solid defensive play and Garoppolo’s execution errors, the 49ers were held scoreless over the final 17 minutes of the game – but more importantly, San Francisco’s offense possessed the ball for just 5 minutes and 31 seconds in the fourth quarter, giving Mahomes’ offense plenty of time to score 21 fourth-quarter points.
Clark joined ESPN’s First Take on Friday, and was asked what he was thinking when the Chiefs needed to force a 3-and-out against Garoppolo, down 20-17 with less than six minutes remaining in the game.
“In my head, honestly, I was saying ‘this guy’s not going down the field and beating us. We need 3-and-outs. We need 3-and-outs, consecutive ones if we’re going to win this game,’ and that’s what we was able to go out there and do.”
Clark was also critical of Garoppolo immediately after the game, saying in an interview that the QB couldn’t beat the Chiefs by throwing checkdowns all game.
Clark did say on Friday that he felt Garoppolo was still one of the best QBs in the league.
“I mean, I feel like he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the league. You say top…. top-5? I wouldn’t put him top-5. I’d put him up there as one of the top-10 guys though for sure.”
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