I am never allowed to complain about anything in sports for the rest of my life.
There's a million insane stats and I will collect them all.
If you know me and been reading for a while, this will be a little repetitive. But I have to include the context.
My Chiefs fandom was defined by their inability to win a playoff game. SEVEN playoff losses in a row over 22 years.
This was reality as of January 1, 2016. When the Chiefs hired Andy Reid I said it would be a success if he won a single playoff game. That was the bar.
In November 2005, I was on this site
calling a Chiefs win over the Raiders "the greatest game I've seen." It was a regular season win that brought the Chiefs to 5-3.
So you know that playoff streak of seven losses in a row that I just mentioned. Well the Chiefs are on a new streak right now. Seven playoff wins in a row.
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I will have weeks and months and years to post more about what this means for legacies and all that good stuff. So for now I want to dive into the game itself.
1st Quarter
The game opens with a CMC fumble, and I'm thinking here's the Chiefs chance to boat race the Niners. Get an opening drive TD. Force Purdy to start slinging and make a pick. Get the ball to start the second half. This could be 34-10.
Chiefs go 3 and out.
KC defense makes another stop but Chiefs go 4 and out.
It's the end of the first quarter and it's 0-0. The Chiefs are in the Super Bowl and it's boring.
2nd Quarter
SF lines up for a 55-yard field goal. Would be the longest in SB history with their terrible kicker? I think this has no shot of going in. Of course he makes it.
Chiefs respond with a 52-yard deep shot to Hardman. 1st and goal from the 9. And Pacheco fumbles. Kelce is screaming at Andy Reid and almost knocks him over, mad that he's not in the game to block for Pacheco.
Chiefs D overcomes a horse collar personal foul to make the stop, but Chiefs O can't overcome intentional grounding.
49ers rip off a 67-yard touchdown drive that includes a 15-yard penalty for Sneed slapping an opponent's helmet, and a trick play double pass touchdown.
4 minutes to go until halftime and it's SF 10, KC 0.
Chiefs have had the ball four times and have no points to show for it.
KC finally executes a solid drive, but gets stopped in the red zone. Butker gets a short one and we're on the board. Both teams got five possessions in the first half.
Halftime: SF 10, KC 3.
In Mahomes four Super Bowl appearances, trailed 3 times at the half, tied once. Never had a halftime lead.
3rd Quarter
It's okay though, Chiefs have the ball to start. They've got 40 minutes to script their next 10 plays. They're the experienced team that knows how to handle the unusually long halftime. And it's intercepted. 49ers defense is celebrating.
Despite starting at the KC 44, the 49ers can't move the ball and end up punting.
The Chiefs come very close to picking up the first down on both 2nd and 3rd down. Instead of challenging, they just burn a timeout anyways. Believe it or not the Chiefs punt again.
Once again, the KC defense holds and gets the ball back.
On this drive the only plays longer than 4 yards were a 22-yard Mahomes scramble out of the triple option, and a 11-yard pass to Kelce. Still it's a long enough drive to get to the SF 39. 4th and 6. Down 10-3, Reid calls upon Butker. It's a 57-yard field goal. Would break the record that Moody set in the 2nd quarter. Drills it.
49ers go 3 and out. That's 3 straight punts from SF.
With 2:49 left in the quarter, the Chiefs have the momentum, they're only down 4 and have the ball. It's 3rd and 2. And the defense clamps down. Chiefs to punt.
And then one guy CHANGES THE WHOLE GAME.
Jaylen Watson, #35, the gunner on the punt unit.
If you
watch the punt coverage, he's lined up opposite #28 in white. Watson blocks him into the ball at 2:37 and then recovers it at 2:33. Two pieces of effort in the span of four seconds and everything is different.
Quick aside on Watson. He was a rookie last year and he made the 99-yard game-winning pick six on Herbert and also made 2 interceptions in the playoffs last year, to help the Chiefs get to LVII. This year, the Chiefs secondary was improved and healthier, so Watson wasn't on the field as much, reduced to a special teamer. But here he is transforming the game.
Very next play. Mahomes to MVS. Sure hands. (Looks for a half-second like he's about to drop it, but he secures it.) It's a touchdown and the Chiefs are winning for the first time. I'm feeling great.
49ers get the ball and they respond. It's funny how we talk about momentum and I know it's real, but there's also this effect of once a team shifts the momentum, there's often a response to steal it back.
4th Quarter
49ers drive down and they've got a 4th and 3 at the KC 15. SF is down three, so the easy thing to do is kick the field goal and tie the game. But they don't. They convert and take the lead on a touchdown. Jennings now has a receiving TD and a passing TD.
I notice the time. 11:22.
My birthday is November 22, so 11.22 has always been a number with good vibes for me. A lucky number if you will.
And it's right at this time, that Leo Chenal blocks the extra point.
Listen, I've watched a lot of football. I know that every team has to overcome hiccups to win a game. But a missed extra point is 99% a harbinger of a bad time. When you add in the Greenlaw Achilles injury, the punt off the heel, Deebo in the blue tent and now a blocked XP in the 4th quarter, it definitely seemed like fate was not on the 49ers side.
Chiefs get the ball and go down the field, converting a 3rd and 10 to Kelce. They get stopped in the red zone, so Butker comes on and ties the game.
16-16 with 5:46 to go.
Feeling pretty good. But then the 49ers offense keeps rolling. First down. First down. It's 3:27 and I realize the clock situation looks fatal.
49ers at the KC 40. 1 or two more first downs and they can kick a field goal with 3 seconds left and Mahomes never touches the ball again.
They keep the clock running and all of a sudden it's the 2-minute warning. 3rd and 5. The Chiefs need a stop now.
Spags sends McDuffie on a corner blitz and he knocks down the pass.
Moody from 53 to take the lead. Somehow this kicker who was bad all year, makes two from 50+.
So now the ball is back in Mahomes hands. But no margin for error. One interception or fumble and the season is over.
Kelce. Noah Gray. Justin Watson.
3rd and 2. Short dump off to McKinnon, for his first action in a long time, coming off IR. Picks up the first.
With only 16 seconds left, Chiefs are on the 33.
A sack here loses the game.
Instead it's a 22-yard crossing route to Kelce.
Now there's 10 seconds left from the 11. You want a shot at the end zone, but you can't throw a pick. The game could be won or lost on this play.
Ends up throwing it out of bounds in the direction of a covered Kelce.
Butker. Automatic. Now we're going to overtime.
First game under the new rules.
Both teams to get the ball. 49ers win toss and want the ball. (Chiefs reveal after game that they wanted the ball 2nd, and would have gone for 2 to win if it came to that.)
Overtime
First play is almost picked off. Would have been 4th and 13 but there's holding on KC.
Great drive for 49ers, go down the field, picking up first downs, overcoming offensive holding, get inside the 10. 3rd and 4 from the KC 9.
Biggest play of the game and 49ers leave Chris Jones unblocked.
Error in communicating protection. He's on the QB immediately and Purdy throws it away. Both Aiyuk and Jennings were going to be open about 1 second after Purdy chucks it. If RT and RG are on the same page, that's a TD for SF.
So Patrick Lavon Mahomes comes on to the field needing 3 to extend the game, 6 to win.
First set of downs it's 4th and 1. Mahomes has said Reid would only let him sneak if it's the Super Bowl. Well, it's the Super Bowl and you need 1 yard.
The 49ers are one tackle away from winning the Super Bowl.
Chiefs line up in shotgun. I'm freaking out. Are we really going to throw it and risk MVS or Hardman to drop a pass to lose the freaking game?
Chiefs leave Bosa unblocked and he bites on the fake handoff to Pacheco. Mahomes looks like he might toss it to Kelce but he's got a running lane and picks it up.
They're moving and it feels good but I know it's one tipped pass away from being a game-ending interception. Or a game-ending Pacheco fumble.
Then MVS runs backwards after a tackle attempt. But they pick up the first anyways to Rice.
Pacheco looks like he gets a first down but they mark it 3rd and 1. Mahomes takes off and there's a second where I think he might run up the middle all the way to the end zone.
Inside screen to Kelce who catches it on the 12 and fights to the 3.
Chiefs are on the doorstep. They're hungry. And when Andy Reid gets hungry, he's ordering a CORN DOG.
Named after the corner drag, they ran Corn Dog twice in last year's Super Bowl for touchdowns and it worked again.
Redemption for Mecole Hardman who fumbled in the Bills game. At the start of the year, Hardman was on the Jets and predicted he'd beat the 49ers in the Super Bowl.
Comes back to the Chiefs and catches the winning score.
Offense! Go to work!
Defense! Go to work!
Special Teams! Go to work!
Coaches! Go to work!
And that's what it took today. This wasn't the offense hanging 51 on the Texans in the Wild-Card game. This was such a balanced effort, including clutch special teams and coaches making the right calls. All four phases units together.
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The craziest thing is for most of my life I hoped but never fully believed that I would see the Chiefs win one Super Bowl.
And now they're a Dynasty.
3 Super Bowl Wins in 5 Years.
Back to Back titles which hadn't been done in 20 years.
It's all so insane that's it's hard to believe it's real.
What a time to be alive.
