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49ers players say they didn’t know Super Bowl overtime rules | ESPN
While several Chiefs players and coaches said they had a prepared strategy in the event that the Super Bowl went to overtime, multiple 49ers players admitted they were not even aware of the rules.
“I didn’t even know about the new playoff overtime rule, so it was a surprise to me,” Niners defensive lineman Arik Armstead said. “I didn’t even really know what was going on in terms of that.”
Sunday night’s game was the second of 58 Super Bowls to be tied after regulation. It was the first played under new overtime rules that ensure both teams get a chance to possess the ball before the game ends — unless the first drive in OT ends with a safety. This differs from the rules governing overtime in the regular season, where the game ends if the first team to possess the ball scores a touchdown.
After winning the overtime coin toss Sunday, the 49ers elected to receive the ball to start the extra period. But their 13-play drive ended with Jake Moody’s 27-yard field goal and set the stage for Mahomes, who orchestrated his own 13-play drive punctuated by a game-winning 3-yard touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman that sealed the Chiefs’ 25-22 victory.
The Winners and Losers of Super Bowl LVIII | The Ringer
Loser: Hope
Again: This was the worst Chiefs team of the Mahomes era, and they just won the Super Bowl. (Did I mention that Marquez Valdes-Scantling was running backward in overtime?) The Chiefs will likely get more receiving help, and the offense will improve simply because replacing MVS and Kadarius Toney with literally anyone else should be a huge improvement. The defense is the youngest by snap-adjusted age in the NFL. This Chiefs team projects to be significantly better in 2024. Mahomes is winning with his brain these days as much as his arm. Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers, Josh Allen and the Bills, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, Justin Herbert and the Chargers—all of these teams are in danger of being characters in Mahomes’s story, just as Brady’s opponents were for the past 20 years, or how the 1990s NBA is littered with championship-caliber teams who couldn’t get past Michael Jordan. A month ago, Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase was asked who he wants to win the Super Bowl. “Anybody but the Chiefs,” Chase said. Surely he is just saying out loud what a lot of players feel deep down. And that is from a Bengal—the Bengals are the only non–Tom Brady entity to beat Mahomes in the playoffs! Imagine how everyone else feels. Hope around the league is at its lowest since Brady was a Patriot.
Reviewing Jim Nantz, Tony Romo and CBS’s Broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII | Sports Illustrated
You just can’t say “this is for the Super Bowl” when the game is going to continue.
Romo also added to confusion late in overtime after the Niners kicked a field goal when the Chiefs had a first-and-goal at the 3-yard line and the clock ticking away with less than 30 seconds left.
Instead of just saying, “Even if the clock runs out, the Chiefs will still get to continue their drive because it’s their first possession in overtime,” Romo tried to use a first-quarter analogy that didn’t properly explain what was going on. Instead of keeping things simple here, Romo offered an analogy that didn’t really clear things up, saying, “The reason for everyone at home why you’re not taking a time out, just so everyone knows, is ’cause it’s just the first quarter in overtime. That’s how you have to think of it, O.K. We just don’t say at zero we end the game. It’s the end of the first quarter and you move to the second quarter. I can only feel the number of people out there being like, What’s going on?”
How Mahomes and the Chiefs beat the 49ers in Super Bowl 2024 | ESPN
Surprise: The 49ers’ special teams did some great things
One obvious point of weakness for San Francisco was supposed to be its special teams, which ranked well below the Chiefs’ by stats such as DVOA and EPA. Rookie kicker Jake Moody had missed at least one kick in each of his postseason appearances, and this didn’t feel like the sort of game that Niners fans would want to see turned into a kicking and field position contest.
Instead, the 49ers made some big plays. Moody hit a 55-yard kick to open the scoring in the first quarter, and after the offense stalled out with 1:53 to go, he hit from 53 to give the 49ers a 19-16 lead. Led by Chris Conley, San Francisco’s coverage units did a great job of limiting James to a total of 12 yards on four punt returns, as Mitch Wishnowsky matched Tommy Townsend punt-for-punt, with both players producing five punts for exactly 254 yards.
What changed: Yet again, special teams came back to bite the 49ers
Moody appeared to be at fault when a low extra point attempt was blocked by Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal in the fourth quarter, keeping the game within three points at 16-13. The teams then traded field goals before hitting overtime. While we don’t know how the game would have played out if the Chiefs were down four as opposed to three, blocking an extra point obviously made things easier for Reid’s team.
Chiefs’ worst Super Bowl title team? Where this squad ranks for KC | USA Today
4. 2023 Chiefs, won Super Bowl 58
Though it finished with a sterling silver flourish, it was almost undoubtedly the least-imposing K.C. squad since QB Patrick Mahomes – now a three-time Super Bowl MVP – became the starter in 2018. The Chiefs were 9-6 after a Christmas Day loss and in jeopardy of abdicating their perennial AFC West throne and missing the playoffs. But they turned it on from there, winning their final six games – including two playoff contests on the road and a Super Bowl in front of a decidedly pro-Niners crowd. Pretty cool way to pull off the league’s first successful title defense in 19 years. It may not have been the most explosive or telegenic team, but it was a team – buoyed by excellent defense and special teams that picked up some relative offensive slack.
Top Potential Landing Spots for Chris Jones in 2024 NFL Free Agency | Bleacher Report
After watching Chris Jones lift the Lombardi Trophy inside their home Allegiant Stadium, the Las Vegas Raiders may be dreaming of a day where the defensive tackle helps their franchise win its first Super Bowl since 1983. Being able to poach the superstar away from a fierce AFC West rival would be icing on the cake for a club that desperately needs some help in the defensive trenches.
The two-time All-Pro fueled speculation that he could end up wearing silver and black next season during the lead-up to the Super Bowl. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vincent Bonsignore, Jones gushed about his stay in Nevada this past week:
Chris Jones (pending FA) to me about the @Raiders facility: “The Raiders have the best facility in the league. Very first-class organization. New equipment, new facility. Much respect to the owner and the organization.”
He laughed when I said Raiders fans would love hearing that— Vincent Bonsignore (@VinnyBonsignore) February 8, 2024
The Raiders may already have one of the game’s best sack artists on their roster in Maxx Crosby, but the edge-rusher isn’t receiving too much support from his teammates. While Malcolm Koonce may be taking a leap after the defensive end recorded eight sacks in his breakout third season, the interior of the defensive line looks suspect.
25 – Kansas City Chiefs
Keon Coleman
Florida State · WR · Junior
PROJECTED TRADE WITH GREEN BAY PACKERS
Selecting receiver Rashee Rice last year in the second round was a nice start, but the Chiefs’ inconsistency at the position could force them to trade up for another top-tier talent. They send their third-round selection, as well as a fifth-rounder, to Green Bay for this pick.
Around the NFL
Steelers releasing QB Mitchell Trubisky after two seasons | NFL.com
It’s a move, which Garafolo noted was a mutual decision, that’s hardly unexpected as Trubisky had two years left on his contract, but no remaining guaranteed money and had done little to fortify a roster spot over the past two campaigns.
In addition to Trubisky, the Steelers released offensive lineman Chukwuma Okorafor (Steelers 2018 third-round draft pick; 59 career starts) and punter Pressley Harvin III (Steelers 2021 seventh-round pick). The moves will save roughly $13 million in salary cap space.
Originally signed in the 2022 offseason as equal parts bridge QB to Kenny Pickett and a potential resurrection product after a promising 2021 with the Buffalo Bills, Trubisky had his ups and downs with Pittsburgh, but more of the latter.
He was 2-5 as a Steelers starter with 12 appearances, 1,884 passing yards, eight touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a 77.6 QB rating.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Chiefs-49ers Super Bowl LVIII: 5 things we learned from 25-22 victory
2. Steve Spagnuolo is the Chiefs’ 2023
MVPMVCOnce upon a time, we lamented that defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo would never bench linebacker Ben Neiman and safety Dan Sorensen because he didn’t trust rookies; he wanted veterans on the field.
Then general manager Brett Veach gave Spagnuolo one of the league’s most talented young defenses. Spagnuolo didn’t have a choice but to play those rookies in 2022 — and the team won Super Bow LVII.
Being forced to coach up these young guys unlocked something inside of Spagnuolo that had lain dormant. It awakened the teacher within him — the one who excels at conveying information in a way that makes sense to his players. In 2022, he had a hungry group of youngsters. Now those same players are battle-tested — and are making plays all over the field.
There is no salary cap for coaches. Spagnuolo and head coach Andy Reid have both earned large raises. And it’s time to start planning for two statues on the grounds of Arrowhead: one for Reid and another for Spagnuolo.