The Chiefs are once again on top of the NFL world. They won Super Bowl 58 and left the 49ers without a Super Bowl once again. The Chiefs would come back to win in overtime with Mahomes leading a game-winning drive capped off by a touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman as the game finished 25-22.
The Chiefs won in Baltimore and shut down NFL MVP Lamar Jackson, as it was Steve Spagnuolo’s defense that would shine in the AFC Championship Game. Patrick Mahomes would put the finishing touches on a trip to the Super Bowl, with a bomb to Marques Valdez-Scantling to ice the game. The 49ers however, would go down by 17 points to the Lions in the NFC Championship game, before Brock Purdy would lead a spirited comeback as the Niners broke the Lions’ hearts winning 34-31. The Niners dominated the early stages of Super Bowl 58, marching down the field with ease only for Star Running Back Christian McCaffrey to fumble and blow a massive chance for the 49ers to take an early lead. What followed was 3 straight drives ending in punts. With Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw flying all over the field for the 49ers, the 49ers would finally take advantage of their dominance, going up 3-0 via the right leg of Jake Moody. The Chiefs would soon respond with Mahomes finding Mecole Hardman for 52 yards. However, Isaiah Pacheco would fumble on the very next play with the Niners falling on it. But not much later, disaster struck for the 49ers: Linebacker Dre Greenlaw would trip running onto the field. The trip resulted in a torn Achilles, ruling Greenlaw out the rest of the game. Later in the quarter, the Niners would go up double digits with wide receiver Juwan Jennings throwing a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs would get a field goal back, to make it a 10-3 game going into halftime.
After Usher performed at the halftime show, the game got back up and running. The Niners got off to a great start again with Ji’Ayir Brown picking off Patrick Mahomes. The Niners once again failed to take advantage. The teams traded punts until the Chiefs grabbed back another field goal. The 49ers would continue to shoot themselves in the foot, muffing a punt at their own 20 which would be recovered by the Chiefs. The Chiefs would score on the next play, going ahead of the 49ers for the first time all game. The Niners would answer right back, with Purdy finding Jennings for a touchdown. This made him the second player in Super Bowl History to throw a touchdown and catch a touchdown. The Chiefs would block the extra point to keep it at a 3-point game. The Chiefs answered back with a 12-play drive and kicked a field goal to once again tie Super Bowl 58. The 49ers had a chance to put together a game-winning drive but would stall out and retake the lead. With under 2 minutes to go, Patrick Mahomes would drive the Chiefs down the field and set up another game-tying Field Goal to send Super Bowl 58 to overtime.
The 49ers would win the toss, and would surprisingly defer. The Niners would try to make good use of their puzzling decision, with Brock Purdy marching right down the field converting a series of first downs, before once again, stalling out. They would settle for another field goal, and with the door cracked wide open for Patrick Mahomes he’d take advantage. He converted 3rd and 4th downs before being set up right close to the goal line, where he would roll out right and find Mecole Hardman to win Super Bowl 58.
(Mecole Hardman wins Super Bowl 58)
It was a devastating loss for the 49ers. Coming up short once again, as their title drought will continue. Brock Purdy had this to say post-game, “Not a lot has been said … The way things have been the last couple of years, everyone wanted it so bad. We’re still trying to sort of gather our thoughts…But everyone in that locker room loves each other, I’ll tell you that.”(Reuters). Mecole Hardman on the winning side had this to say, “When I blacked out, I didn’t know what was going on until [Mahomes] came up running and was like, ‘You’re a champion! We just won!’”(CNN).
With the season now over, the Chiefs will come back in September trying to complete a three-peat. No NFL team ever has, and with Mahomes back they have as good a shot as anybody. For the Niners, they dismissed defensive coordinator Steve Wilks a few days after the Super Bowl. With now growing pressure from Niners fans on head coach Kyle Shannahan, it’s more important for the 49ers to get back to the Super Bowl.