49ers Fall Short in Super Bowl LIV Loss to Chiefs
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - History favors the team who is a top ranked defense against a top ranked offense. However, the Kansas City Chiefs went against history by defeating the San Francisco 49ers' top ranked defense.
Andy Reid finally gets his first Super Bowl ring and Patrick Mahomes becomes the youngest quarterback to win one. The 49ers' defense played Mahomes well for three quarters, but that isn't enough to keep him contained.
San Francisco needed to play a perfect game defensively, which it started out that way when they forced the Chiefs to go three-and-out. Following the Chiefs' opening drive, the 49ers made their presence felt on Mahomes when safety Jimmie Ward laid the wood on him. That hit was felt all the way up in the press box.
From that moment on, Mahomes would go on to look pedestrian. That isn't something anyone is accustomed to seeing. In fact, Garoppolo was the better quarterback for three quarters in the contest. He came up in various moments to sustain drives, which allowed the 49ers to go up 20-10 going into the fourth quarter.
All the momentum was on the side of Niners. The 49ers' defense had Mahomes on the ropes until the fourth quarter came with nine minutes remaining. That is when the greatness of Mahomes woke up as Kansas City went on to score 21 unanswered points.
So why did the 49ers' defense so suddenly disappear?
Kansas City had ran over 20 more plays than the 49ers halfway into the fourth quarter. By that time, the defense of the 49ers became gassed and just could not hold their own any longer. The same goes for the 49ers' offense that became stagnate.
2019 was an incredible run for the San Francisco 49ers, but the phenomenal talent of Patrick Mahomes was just too much.
