Some wounds never heal, and the 49ers’ loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV is still hanging with former 49ers running back Raheem Mostert.
Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill on Saturday took to Twitter to reflect on a mistake he made in the Chiefs’ Super Bowl loss to the Buccaneers. The tweet prompted a response from Mostert, who is now with the Dolphins, where Mostert had his own Super Bowl what-if from San Francisco’s matchup against Hill’s Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV.
Instead of reflecting on something he did, he aimed his regrets at 49ers head coach and offensive play caller Kyle Shanahan.
what if we ran the ball more against the chiefs when we were up 2 possessions with 6 mins left 🤔#SuperBowlLIVChamps 😅 https://t.co/9ksgY5DhLq
— Raheem Mostert (@RMos_8Ball) April 1, 2023
The 49ers entered that game with perhaps the best run game in the NFL, and Mostert in particular blew up in the NFC championship game with 220 yards and four touchdowns on 29 carries to put an exclamation point on his breakout 2019 campaign.
That season Mostert averaged a whopping 5.6 yards per carry to spearhead a 49ers rushing attack that finished second in total yards in the 2019 season.
His production in the Super Bowl suffered though thanks to an unusually pass-heavy game plan from the 49ers. San Francisco in that game ran it only 22 times – just the third time all season they’d gone for 22 or fewer rushing attempts.
Mostert’s frustration is understandable considering he only ran it 12 times and had success on those 12 carries with 58 yards and one touchdown.
His what-if is a valid one, to be sure, but there were a handful of other turning points in that game that left the 49ers short of their sixth Super Bowl. Jimmy Garoppolo’s missed deep throw to Emmanuel Sanders stands out. As do a couple of batted passes by Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones. The 49ers defense also allowed a huge completion to Hill on a third-and-15 that helped turn the tide late in that game.
Perhaps more Raheem Mostert was the answer that Sunday for the 49ers. Mostert believes that to be the case, and the offensive game plan will be under a microscope if and when Shanahan ever helps the 49ers get back to the NFL’s biggest stage.
