Genius for McCaffrey
Especially in the first half, the Niners were the better team, thanks in part to an action pulled from the bottom of his coaching bag by young coach Kyle Shanahan. The best running back in the entire league, Christian McCaffrey, was picking up relatively successful passes through the middle of the defence until an unexpected and brilliant move by the 49ers came before the end of the second quarter.
Quarterback Brock Purdy did not choose to pass forward this time, but unexpectedly sent a pass to the right side of the field where a ready Jauan Jennings was lurking. It was this wild receiver who lured a swarm of defenders onto him and with a masterful pass to the left side of the field, created an alleyway for McCaffrey to score a touchdown. At that point, the 49ers led by 10 points.
Kelce challenged his own coach
Shortly after the 49ers took the lead, Isiah Pacheco was close to scoring a touchdown, only to have the ball fall out of his hands under pressure from the defence and the Chiefs lost their opportunity to score. That set off the star Travis Kelce, who bluntly took it to his coach and literally yelled and basically insulted him. Kelce was clearly upset that he wasn't on the field at that moment. Reid, however, kept his cool, put on the look of a focused walrus and kept coaching.
After the game, however, the two players were already exchanging compliments. "It's going to stay between us. I'm playing under the best coach this sport has ever had," Kelce, who was cheered on from the stands by girlfriend and singer Taylor Swift, recounted. And coach Andy Reid? "He was just telling me: Put me out there, I'm gonna score! That's what I love about him," he maintained the decorum.
A torn Achilles
In a moment when the 49ers were riding a positive wave, they were hit with a major setback essentially off the field. One of the most important pillars of the defense, Dre Greenlaw, was just about to run onto the turf to attack the Chiefs' quarterback again, only instead of a sprint came a fall and a sad end. He tore his Achilles.
Up until that point, San Francisco's defence had been flawless, and who knows how the game would have turned out if the 49ers hadn't lost one of their big mainstays.
Kicking records
As is the way in big games, a lot of things are decided by kickoffs. This time it was an exceptional battle between Jake Moody and Harrison Butker. San Francisco sent the first challenge thanks to Moody. He opened the game's scoring with an accurate 55-yard long kick, bettering the 30-year-old record set by Steve Christie of the Buffalo Bills (54 yards in the 1994 Super Bowl). But Butker was able to counter. In the second half, with great effort, he even scored from 57 yards out! At the time, it was a four-point loss, but the new Super Bowl record helped the Chiefs turn the game around.
Magic timing
It's never over until it's really over. Kansas came close to losing twice, but in the end the 49ers defense was able to overcome the 49ers defense twice just before the time limit. With just three seconds left in the second half, the Chiefs set up a very good position for the aforementioned Butker, who kept his nerve and tied the game at 19-19 with his kick at 14:57, setting up only the second overtime in Super Bowl history. He had a 100 per cent success rate in the game, hitting all of his four kicks.
And once again, the Chiefs hit the hearts of San Francisco fans at 14:57. This time it was overtime and the winning touchdown. But once again, it was preceded by honest work, which the Kansas players handled flawlessly at key moments. Before the decisive action, Mahomes, Pacheco and Kelce got the ball within three yards of the baseline and a final seven-yard pass from Mahomes to Hardman decided the game. There was no answer.
The Chiefs continue to rule the NFL, have been to the league finals four times in the last five years and have won three titles in the Andy Reid era. They were also the first team in 19 years to defend their Super Bowl victory.
