Traditionally, football games are won by the team with the better defense and the higher level of “physicality.” That’s why I thought San Francisco would win. To me, they abandoned the tactics that got them to the S.B. in the first place - a hard-hitting “D” and an overpowering run game. And when they really needed to make some stops they weren’t able to come through (Richard Sherman is eating crow right about now). Yeah, Jimmy G. kind of wilted down the stretch but I’ve seen plenty of pro quarterbacks, even very highly-regarded ones, over the years who don’t perform as well when they face pressure as they do when they don’t (is that clear?). I call it a “team loss” - Kyle Shanahan was out-coached or he outwitted himself or however you want to put it. Jimmy G. wasn’t “clutch.” And neither was the formerly intimidating 49ers “D.” When Joe Buck kept bringing up how the “Chefs” had come back from big deficits in their first two playoff games this year I kept thinking, “Shut up! Those were against teams who were NOT the caliber of this 49ers team!” Then the 49ers went and made a LIAR out of me. Way ta go, San Francisco!
I was on the fence about the 49ers until now. But once you make Joe Buck look like he is wise, you will earn my undying hatred. :mad:
Don’t blame me! Blame the 49ers! (I remember texting friends of mine yesterday right after P.M. threw his 2nd pick: “If the 49ers score a touchdown on this drive [which, frankly, I expected them to do] the Chiefs are in SERIOUS trouble.” Then the Sixty-Niners fell apart and gave a game away that they should have won. Oh, well - that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes!)
Sorry I didn’t clarify, I hate the 49ers only for making Buck look like he knew what he was talking about.
Yes, that was the pass with about 1:40 remaining and the score 24-20.
Regarding the end-of-game ‘dancing’ by Mahomes: KC got the ball with 57 seconds left and the Niners had two timeouts. He wasted enough time by dancing backwards on 3 downs so there were just five seconds left on 4th down. And then the last long pass ran out the clock. Granted, had they punted with an 11 point lead, the outcome would have likely been the same, but why take the chance?
The last play was a failed fourth-down by the Chiefs. Before that, they were 2 for 2 in that category.
At one point, the Chiefs were 1 for 6 on third down. They finished 6 for 14. So they were 5 for their last 8 3rd down conversions, which includes the last kneeldown.
Richard Sherman is an astoundingly good CB. Except in the SB. He has been in three of them. No one really noticed him in any of those. In 48, he left sometime in the latter part of the second half with a messed up leg or ankle. In 49, he helped guide the Patriots from down by ten to up by four in the latter part of the 4th quarter. Maybe he is so low-profile because by that point the other O is tuned to go not-in-his-direction. Or, maybe he is just not the big game hero type.
In SB 48, Manning didn’t throw at Sherman ever. He was like citronella to a mosquito.
He’s not eating crow simply because he got beat. That happens to the best of 'em. He’s eating crow because he was exchanging barbs with Darrelle Revis before the game and he apparently got the worst of it (after Darrelle Revis accused Richard Sherman of “hiding in zone coverage”). When you talk as much as R.S. does, eventually it’s probably gonna come back to you in a way that you don’t like.
I think you’re right about that. When SF did not call a timeout to give themselves time to work at the end of the first half, I was immediately reminded of the end of Super Bowl 36, Pats v. Rams, tie score with about the same amount of time left (and NO timeouts if I recall correctly). Everyone thought the Patriots would/should run the clock out and play for overtime. But Belichick had belief that Brady could lead the team down, and they did. That was very conservative of Shanahan.
Just read a trivia book that mentioned the 49ers won 55-10 in 1990, the supposedly largest blowout.
I didn’t bring up that SB to lay either game at Shanahan’s feet - I don’t think he deserves that.
That said, he did make some very odd decisions in both games, and it’s fair to question those decisions. As a Chiefs fan I was very happy he decided to pass on 2nd and 5 (and then again on 3rd and 5) with 5 and half minutes left and a lead. Mostert was at nearly 5yd/carry at that point, so I was pretty shocked they didn’t just keep grinding it out. It’s almost like the change in momentum made him call plays like he was behind instead of ahead.
The lack of timeouts before the half and kicking a FG on 4th and 2 from the 24 both felt conservative to me, but are at least defensible. And if Jimmy G hits that deep ball late then we are having a different conversation right now.
In Super Bowls, yes. And I loved every second of it (except when the wienies based in Colorado scored). The biggest N.F.L. championship game blowout of ALL time came back in the 1940s, I believe, when the Chicago Bears deSTROYed the Washington “Natives” to the tune of 73 - 0(!).
Yes, still the largest margin of victory in a Super Bowl to date.
I picked K.C. for one reason only, and that is Mahomes. I believed he would find a way to win the game no matter what, and it turned out that he did. This guy is the real deal. If he remains healthy, there is no doubt in my mind that he will be a Hall of Famer and one of the great quarterbacks in NFL history.
That’s how I felt about SB 48. It could have been a 43-0 blowout but those weenies from Colorado had to get a TD in garbage time to ruin it.
But it was still the fastest points in SB history (the Seahawks scored in the first 12 seconds of the game from a safety on the first and never came close to relinquishing the lead). They also scored in the the first 12 seconds of the second half on a Percy Harvin kickoff return for a TD. Both big shout-out to the Twelves. 
This, exactly. Mostert had just run for five yards. If he carries twice more and gets a first down with about 4 1/2 minutes to go, KC probably has to start using timeouts. And then it gets really dicey for the Chiefs.
In fairness, however, on the 2nd and 5 play, Kittle was wide open for an easy first down. Chris Jones batted down the pass, which forced another pass on 3rd and 5, which wasn’t close because of a KC blitz that almost got to the QB. That was the FIRST 3 and out for the KC defense. And then KC got the ball back with over five minutes to go.
Frankly, if the San Francisco offense had thrown zero passes all game long and simply handed off to Mostert and Co. for 70 offensive plays in a row, Niners might have won.
The way that 1st half ended bugged me. I felt that was one of those “back and forth handsies” between Kittle and the defender and that the ref should have kept the flag in his pocket. It completely altered the game. So then the anticlimactic kneel down happens, J-Lo time.
I had no dog in the hunt other than rooting for a good game and for Mahomes to play well, which I got, but…IDK man. Didn’t like that penalty.
No
It was back and forth handsies…until just before the ball arrived and Kittle extended his arm, which held off the defender and gave Kittle a small boost to get to the ball.
However, it probably shouldn’t have been called. I’ve seen worse that haven’t been called. And I’m speaking as a Chiefs fan.