49ers Fourth Quarter Super Bowl Collapse!
The San Francisco 49ers lose to the Kansas City Chiefs
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan walks out of the game after the fourth quarter of the NFL Super Bowl 54 football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
2020.02.02 – The San Francisco 49ers collapse during fourth quarter, they were less than nine minutes away from winning the Super Bowl on Sunday and end up losing to the Kansas City Chiefs 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV.
It’s a second Super Bowl appearance for coach Kyle Shanahan and again he must wrestle with blowing a lead when the Lombardi Trophy was in sight. Shanahan’s 49ers blew a 20-10 fourth-quarter lead on his latest effort at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
“Tough loss. It hurts everybody in that room,” Shanahan said. “We had opportunities to win and came up short. … Kansas City played a good game and better than us today.”
The Chiefs certainly played better in the clutch.
After being peppered all week by reporters seeking to rehash that blown 28-3 lead to New England three years ago when Shanahan was the offensive coordinator in Atlanta, Shanahan’s first trip to the Super Bowl as a head coach for the 49ers ended in another late-game meltdown.
San Francisco became the third team in Super Bowl history to give up a 10-point lead in the second half when they blew a lead advantage to Kansas City on Sunday night.
“Those guys are hurting in there, just like I am,” Shanahan said. “We all are (hurting) right now. It’s tough when you lose a Super Bowl, but I’m so unbelievably proud of those guys, what they’ve done all year. I’ve been coaching a while and it’s as special a group as I’ve ever been around. It’s tough that it had to end today in the way it did.”
The 49ers appeared to be firmly in control when they intercepted the Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes for a second time with 11:57 to play and a 10-point lead.
Jimmy Garoppolo completed a 12-yard pass to George Kittle to give the Niners a first down with less than 11 minutes to play. But Raheem Mostert was stopped for 1 yard, Garoppolo threw an in-completion on second down and then was forced into a short scramble on third down following a false start on Joe Staley.
“We just didn’t get it done when we got the ball,” Shanahan said. “Came up short on a just couple plays. … We had our chance a little bit there at the end, and they made some good plays, and we just missed them.”
That forced a punt and Mahomes led an 83-yard drive that got the Chiefs right back into the game.
2020.03.29 – Super Bowl LIV – 49ers vs. Chiefs ‘No Choke for Shanahan‘
2020.03.29 – Super Bowl LIV – 49ers vs. Chiefs ‘No Choke for Shanahan‘
2020.03.29 – This film is the most accurate breakdown analyzing the San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV.
The Chiefs won the game 31-20, a common narrative is 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan’s inability to close out games in the 4th quarter and win big games.
This episode using the coaches all-22 game film, dives in to Shanahan’s Super Bowl game plan and explains why the loss was not his fault, and why his game plan was of a winning caliber.
2020.02.02 – SB LIV – San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs (Video)
2020.02.02 – SB LIV – San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs (Video)
Super Bowl 54 FULL Game: Kansas City Chiefs vs. SF 49ers (Video)
“The turning point is we got a turnover and didn’t execute on offense,” Kittle said. “We gave the ball right back.”
The 49ers subsequently collapsed in a dramatic and comprehensive fashion.
The Niners still had a chance to seal it with a productive drive on offense but a first down run followed by two in-completions, including one batted at the line by Chris Jones gave the Chiefs the ball back again.
The Chiefs’ quarterback led another touchdown drive to give Kansas City a 24-20 edge, setting the stage for Garoppolo to lead a late-game comeback in the final 2:39.
The Niners managed to move the ball across midfield following the two-minute warning before two straight in-completions. Emmanuel Sanders then broke open deep on third down but Garoppolo just overthrew him.
“We missed some shots downfield, some plays we usually make,” Garoppolo said. “We just didn’t make some of the plays we normally make.”
A fourth-down sack ended the chance for Shanahan to join his father, Mike, as the only father-son Super Bowl champion coaches.
The Chiefs added a late TD and then Garoppolo’s desperation interception ended any comeback chance for the 49ers.
“Pretty brutal,” Kittle said. “It’s not anything you can wrap your head around. I wish I had another half to play. We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities.”
2020.02.02 – Shanahan let another SB slip away – Randy Moss (Video)
2020.02.02 – Shanahan let another SB slip away – Randy Moss (Video)
Super Bowl LIV | NFL Films Presents (Video)
The Chiefs (15-4) trailed 24-0 and 17-7 in their previous playoff games, both in the first half. In the big game, they nearly didn’t have time for a comeback.
Coach Shanahan and the 49ers gave Chiefs quarterback Mahomes an inch. He took so much more — he took away San Francisco’s sixth Super Bowl title, their first in 25 years and gave Kansas City its first in 50 years.
The 49ers’ head coach came to the Super Bowl with the goal of changing his legacy. Despite being the most brilliant offensive mind in the NFL and one of the league’s best head coaches, young or old, Shanahan is best known for “28-3” — the lead the Atlanta Falcons had over the New England Patriots three years ago in Super Bowl LI.
The Falcons lost that game. And Shanahan, then the Falcons’ offensive coordinator, has been handed the majority of the blame.
Sunday’s 20-10 scoreline won’t be emblazoned on t-shirts, but the loss should be worn by the 49ers’ head coach.
“We’ll lick our wounds and we’ll get over this,” Shanahan said. “That team will have a special place in my heart forever.”
Mahomes finished 26 of 41 for 286 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, while Garoppolo was 20 of 31 for 219 yards with one interception and two touchdowns.
Kansas City’s fans in the crowd of 62,417 at Hard Rock Stadium got little opportunity to chant and do the tomahawk chop as KC fell behind 20-10 in the third quarter. Mahomes threw his second interception of the night after they fell behind.
But the vaunted 49ers defense wilted late and Mahomes brought the magic that makes him so special.
He completed passes of 44 yards to Tyreek Hill and 38 to Sammy Watkins. The touchdowns came on short throws to Travis Kelce to cut the deficit to three and to Damien Williams for the lead. The first NFL title in Reid’s two-decade career was clinched by Williams’ 38-yard TD run, sending red-clad Chiefs fans into chants of “Andy!” Andy!”
Reid, 61, won a Super Bowl ring with the 1996 Packers while in charge of tight ends. He’s been seeking one as a head coach since being hired by Philadelphia in 1999. The Eagles lost in their only trip to the big game under Reid after the 2004 season.
“This is what it’s all about,” Reid said as confetti fell and the Chiefs celebrated the climax of the NFL’s 100th season. “What a great team, great coaches. Appreciate every bit of it.”
Mahomes found Hill, whose bobble led to the second San Francisco pick, for 44 yards on a third-and-15 — the first long pass completed by Kansas City. A 20-yard pass interference call on Tarvarius Moore, who had that earlier pick, put the ball at the 1 and Kelce was wide open for the score.
The Chiefs defense, confounded by the Niners’ misdirection much of the game, got stingy and forced a three-and-out. Mahomes soon hit Watkins down the right sideline behind Richard Sherman for a 38-yard gain, leading to Williams’ first score.
Kansas City, an original AFL franchise, won the final Super Bowl before the full merger, beating Minnesota in 1970. Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt even coined the phrase Super Bowl.
Now the Hunt family can add a Vince Lombardi Trophy to the Lamar Hunt Trophy earned with the AFC crown.
“It’s a beautiful trophy,” Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said. “I’m so happy for our players, coaches and fans. And especially Andy Reid. Nobody deserves this trophy more than Andy Reid.”
2020.02.02 – Super Bowl LIV: Jimmy Garoppolo on Super Bowl Loss (Video)
2020.02.02 – Super Bowl LIV: Jimmy Garoppolo on Super Bowl Loss (Video)
San Francisco needed a spark during the earlier part of the game and, as it often has this season, the running game provided it. Gouging the Chiefs in the trenches, the 49ers gained 53 yards on five straight rushes before Garoppolo hit on a pair of passes. The second completion, over the middle to Kyle Juszczyk, saw the fullback look like anything but with a nifty open-field move past safety Daniel Sorensen — perhaps Kansas City’s best tackle. Juszczyk surged into the end zone for a 15-yard TD to tie it at 10.
Once more, Garoppolo was brilliant on a drive after being picked off. He improved 39 for 42 for 461 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions with a 136.2 rating during the playoff series after the TD.
Gould’s 42-yarder gave the Niners their first lead, capping the opening drive of the second half. Again, their misdirection plays kept the Chiefs off-balance on defense.
As Garoppolo did in the first half, Mahomes then threw into heavy coverage trying to hit Hill and was picked by Fred Warner. It was the first interception of Mahomes in five postseason games.
And it paid off with another efficient series for the Niners, keyed by a 26-yard completion to Kendrick Bourne on third down. Raheem Mostert, the star of the NFC title game, surged in from the 1 for a 20-10 edge.
Hardly unfamiliar territory for Kansas City.
“We have an ability as a team not just on offense, as team, to figure out what the other team is doing and put our foot in the ground and say enough is enough,” Kelce said. “It’s special.”
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The off-season.
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