The San Francisco 49ers attacked the Kansas City Chiefs with every advantage they had.
They churned out table-setting runs with Christian McCaffrey. They got clutch plays from a deep receiving corps. They generated pressure from a dominant four-man front that reduced their need to send blitzers.
They lost anyway, because the Chiefs had an answer for all of that. Kansas City won back-to-back world championships with a 25-22 Super Bowl 58 victory in overtime.
Like most Chiefs triumphs, it was the result of Patrick Mahomes doing Patrick Mahomes things. But to reduce the team’s third Vince Lombardi Trophy in five years to Mahomes and his connection with Travis Kelce would be a disservice to the Chiefs’ budding dynasty.
How did Kansas City derail the Niners’ championship efforts? It came down to a combination of adjustments in the passing game, Steve Spagnuolo’s drill-bit pressure and some timely, nigh unstoppable play-calling.