Chiefs come back to defeat 49ers and win Super Bowl
FOURTH QUARTER
SCORE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE QUARTER: 20-10, 49ers
RECAP: A critical drive by the Chiefs to start the quarter ended with a Patrick Mahomes interception. But the only thing Kansas City lost was time, as the defense came through to force a punt.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan successfully challenged a play where Tyreek Hill was originally ruled to have caught a pass for a first down on second-and-15. But while that play was then changed to incomplete, on the next snap Mahomes connected with Hill on a deep pass for 44 yards to the San Francisco 21. A few plays later, Mahomes connected with tight end Travis Kelce for his first touchdown pass of the night.
The 49ers were unable to take much time off the clock, going three-and-out on their ensuing drive.
following only the second punt of the night by the 49ers, the Chiefs got into scoring position with a 38-yard deep pass from Mahomes to wide receiver Sammy Watikins — putting the ball at the San Francisco 10-yard line.
On third-and-goal from the 5, Mahomes connected with Damien Williams on a short pass for a touchdown. The play went under review to see if Williams went out of bounds prior to breaking the plane, but the call on the field stood.
Starting with the ball at their own 15 with 2:39 left and three timeouts, the 49ers got to about midfield where their drive stalled. On fourth-and-10 from the Kansas City 49, Frank Clark got his first sack of the game by taking down Garoppolo.
Williams then scored on a 38-yard run to give the Chiefs an insurmountable 31-20 lead with just 1:12 left in the game. The Chiefs intercepted one final pass from Garoppolo to seal it.
KEY PLAY: Mahomes connecting with Hill on the 44-yard pass early in the fourth quarter changed the complexion of the game. The Chiefs had not been able to get much going offensively, but that play got the Chiefs going. They went on to score 21 unanswered points to defeat the 49ers with a fourth-quarter comeback.
KEY PLAYER: Patrick Mahomes. He didn’t have his best game, but he was at his best when the Chiefs needed him most in the fourth quarter.
SCORE AT THE END OF THE QUARTER: 31-20, Chiefs — Super Bowl LIV champions.
THRID QUARTER
SCORE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE QUARTER: 10-10
RECAP: The 49ers began the half with a nine-play drive for a field goal to take a 13-10 lead.
Then Patrick Mahomes threw his first interception of the postseason, apparently not seeing linebacker Fred Warner on the second level as he threw the ball right to him.
The 49ers used a big completion on third-and-8 from Jimmy Garoppolo to Kendrick Bourne to move the chains and put the ball at the Chiefs’ 11-yard line. A few plays later, Raheem Mostert bulldozed his way into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown.
KEY PLAY: Midway through the period on a Chiefs second-and-5, AP Defensive Rookie of the Year Nick Bosa strip-sacked Mahomes. The Chiefs quarterback fell on the loose ball to maintain possession, but the lost yardage was likely a factor in Mahomes’ next pass — the interception to Warner.
KEY PLAYER: Nick Bosa. His strip-sack was a game-changing play, even without it being a turnover.He was able to get consistent pressure on Mahomes throughout the period.
SCORE AT THE END OF THE QUARTER: 20-10, 49ers.
SECOND QUARTER
SCORE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE QUARTER: 7-3, Chiefs
RECAP: The Chiefs extended their lead to 10-3 on kicker Harrison Butker’s 31-yard field goal, scoring three points of a 49ers turnover.
Chiefs cornerback Bashaud Breeland picked off 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on the second play of the period. Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones applied pressure to the San Francisco backfield, but fellow defensive lineman Mike Pennel came up with the quarterback hit that forced Garoppolo’s bad throw.
But then the 49ers got their run game going, moving down the field efficiently with a seven-play, 80-yard drive ending with a 15-yard pass from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to fullback Kyle Juszczyk.
With the score tied at 10, the Chiefs had a chance to retake the lead, but a big loss on second-and-8 from the San Francisco 46 gave the Chiefs third-and-14. Kansas City had to punt.
With 59 seconds left in the half and three timeouts, San Francisco had a chance to take the lead as well, but ended up taking a knee to go into halftime with the score tied at 10.
KEY PLAY: It looked like Garoppolo had a long completion to tight end George Kittle for 42 yards with just 15 seconds left in the half. But Kittle pushed off of Chiefs safety Daniel Sorensen to create space, leading to an offensive pass interference call — wiping off the completion.
KEY PLAYER: 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel. On the 49ers scoring drive, he had a push-pass reception for 16 yards. Then he caught another pass for an 11-yard gain and a second first down to move the chains.
SCORE AT THE END OF THE QUARTER: 10-10
FIRST QUARTER
RECAP: After the Chiefs started the game with a three-and-out, the 49ers used a long drive to get down the field and score a field goal.
But the Chiefs responded with a sustained drive to take a lead before the end of the quarter.
On second-and-2 from the Chiefs’ 44-yard line, Kansas City was flagged for an illegal man downfield. San Francisco elected to decline the penalty to bring up third down, but the Chiefs were able to get a first down with a five-yard run by running back Damien Williams to extend their drive.
The Chiefs had the ball with third-and-11 from San Francisco’s 15-yard line. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes elected to scramble and got first-down yardage, but safety Jimmie Ward came up and delivered a hard hit on Mahomes — jarring the ball loose and out of bounds to bring up fourth-and-1.
Kansas City got the first down and then a touchdown with a 1-yard run on an option play by Mahomes, with the star quarterback electing to keep the ball and lower his shoulder to get into the end zone.
KEY PLAY: Chiefs coach Andy Reid came up with a creative play on fourth-and-1 from the 49ers 5-yard line, with the backfield shifting to allow a direct snap to running back Damien Williams. The six-year veteran easily got up the middle for a four-yard gain to extend the drive, nearly getting in the end zone.
KEY PLAYER: QB Patrick Mahomes. He connected on five of his nine passes for 40 yards, but also had two key run plays for 11 yards and a touchdown.
SCORE AT THE END OF THE QUARTER: 7-3, Chiefs
Contact Myles Simmons at msimmons@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Follow @MylesASimmons on Twitter.