It’s hard to describe how the 49ers collapsed in the second half against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. They simply stopped moving the ball like they did in the first two quarters, and then a couple of special teams miscues gave Kansas City life.
Eventually the reigning champs defended their title with a 25-22 overtime victory at Allegiant Stadium.
Here are our notes from throughout the game:
First quarter
– Good start for the 49ers and they kept it simple, a handoff to Christian McCaffrey off the left side. The Chiefs played the run, but McCaffrey did a nice job creating some yards and getting six.
– First throw is off play action and Brock Purdy hit Kyle Juszczyk for 18 yards. Good easy throw to start. When they win on first down they’ll be able to run a lot of that play action stuff.
– McCaffrey is on one. His second carry goes up the middle for 11 and he dragged a couple defenders with him.
– Now McCaffrey fumbles and the Chiefs recover. Brutal turnover after an excellent start for the 49ers’ RB.
– The 49ers come out in their base defense with LB Oren Burks on the field. Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco was swallowed up by Nick Bosa for a loss of 3. Nice penetration by the 49ers’ DL.
– Now a screen to TE Travis Kelce gets just one thanks to a sweet tackle by LB Dre Greenlaw.
– A checkdown to RB Jerick McKinnon gets stopped short on third-and-12. Well done by the 49ers’ defense to pick up the offense after a mistake.
– Brandon Aiyuk makes an appearance to open the 49ers’ second series. Purdy found his WR in the intermediate area just over a linebacker.
– First Deebo Samuel carry loses two yards. The Chiefs were sitting on that. The motion didn’t fool them much.
– Back-to-back penalties on Trent Williams. An abysmal start for the future Hall of Famer. The first false start made it second-and-17. Then he held on a completion to George Kittle that would’ve gone for a first down.
– Third-and-20 throw to Samuel is stopped short. The 49ers are having success, which is why those two Williams penalties were so damaging.
– Now another false start on the 49ers’ punt. This is disastrous for San Francisco. They look totally unfocused.
– Logan Ryan was on the field for the 49ers’ first two plays of their second defensive series. He’s the nickel corner. Ambry Thomas isn’t in.
– There’s Chase Young with a sack. He was brutal in the NFC championship game, but he exploded past the left tackle that time for an easy sack.
– Another screen goes nowhere thanks to Fred Warner. The 49ers’ defense is flying.
– Third-and-forever and Randy Gregory tracks down Patrick Mahomes as he scrambled. Nice job by San Francisco’s DEs early in this one.
– It’s so much McCaffrey. He’s up to eight touches in the first quarter.
– Bad misfire for Purdy on a second-and-9 throw to Deebo Samuel. He had his WR, but sailed it way out in front of him.
– Chris Conley?! He was the target on a third-and-9 throw and Purdy threw a dot. Nice bounce back after a bad toss.
– Now a 19-yard strike to Ray-Ray McCloud. The 49ers are going deep in the depth chart.
– Ouch. Second-and-10 run play gets blown up for a loss of four. Colton McKivitz got obliterated. The 49ers OL has been mostly good, but that was not a good rep to close the first quarter.
End of first quarter: 49ers 0, Chiefs 0
Second quarter
– Third-and-14 deep shot to Deebo Samuel gets knocked away. Heck of a play by Chiefs CB Trent McDuffie.
– Bang! The 49ers are on the board first on a 55(!)-yard field goal from Jake Moody. It’s 3-0, but the 49ers have to feel like they should be up more at this point. Miscues have killed them early. It’d be huge for the defense to answer with a stop.
– Of course. Mahomes hits WR Mecole Hardman for 52 yards. Not sure what Tashaun Gipson was doing, but he stopped short of the route and let Hardman have an easy grab.
– WOW! Deommodore Lenoir rips the ball out from Pacheco on a first-and-goal run and Javon Hargrave recovers. What a swing, and what an excellent job from the 49ers’ third-year CB.
– Tough series for the 49ers after the takeaway. They got a fortunate horse collar penalty on a Purdy scramble, but couldn’t capitalize. Purdy was under a ton of pressure and took a sack on third-and-long.
– Oh man. Dre Greenlaw got hurt running onto the field. The cart is coming on for him.
– More good work from the 49ers’ defensive line. They’re cooking right now after getting questioned all week.
– Nice catch in traffic by Samuel for a first down after he just missed a first-down throw from Purdy that was a little low and away.
– Elijah Mitchell’s first carry comes with about 5:30 left in the second quarter. He picked up seven and looked explosive on a cutback.
– The 49ers were going to face a third-and-short, but Chiefs CB L’Jarius Sneed hit Aiyuk in the face right in front of a ref. That’s an automatic first down that puts the 49ers just outside the red zone.
– WOW!!! A double-pass from Purdy to Jauan Jennings to McCaffrey for a 21-yard TD. Kyle Shanahan is DEEP in his bag in this game. It’s 10-0, 49ers.
– The Chiefs get the ball after the half, and they take over with 4:23 to go in the second quarter. If they score they could easily double up San Francisco and take a lead. This is a huge defensive possession.
– Bosa and Warner are everywhere in this game. This 49ers defense looks completely different than it did a week ago.
– Rough. Third-and-9, the 49ers pressure Mahomes, but he finds WR Justin Watson for a big gain. Bosa fell down on his rush and could never get back into the play.
– The Chiefs are in a rhythm now. They picked on Logan Ryan on a third-and-2.
– Rashee Rice is killing San Francisco. Back-to-back easy completions to him. Charvarius Ward should be following him. Kansas City is at the 49ers’ 14 with 1:09 to go in the half.
– There’s Arik Armstead. A third-and-5 results in a sack for Armstead thanks to Bosa not giving Mahomes room to step up through the pocket and when Mahomes slowed down he was flattened by the 49ers’ DT.
– Harrison Butker drills a 28-yarder for Kansas City to make it 10-3 with 20 seconds left in the half. San Francisco gave up a lot of underneath throws on that series. There’ll have to be an adjustment on that at halftime.
End of second quarter: 49ers 10, Chiefs 3
Third quarter
– Huge loss on first down to open the third quarter when Pacheco couldn’t handle a toss from Mahomes. That puts the Chiefs in a second-and-22.
– Ji’Ayir Brown comes up with an interception on third-and-13 on a brutal throw by Mahomes. He sailed it high and Brown, who is constantly around the ball, plucked it out of the air to give San Francisco the ball in their own territory.
– Throw away by Purdy on first down and then a false start by Aaron Banks. Tough start to a gift possession. San Francisco needs points here.
– Brutal. Pressure flushes Purdy out and he’s stopped on a short gain and the 49ers will punt. What a dreadful possession.
– Mitch Wishnowsky in his bag. His punt was downed by Conley at the Chiefs’ 2. That helps, but points would have been enormous to give San Francisco a two-score lead.
– Travis Kelce’s second catch goes for nine yards and gets the Chiefs out from the shadow of their own goal post. The 49ers left him all alone in the flat.
– Wow. Javon Kinlaw on third-and-1 comes up with a stuff to bring up a fourth-and-1. That’s an unbelievable play in a huge spot by Kinlaw, who has struggled this year. The Chiefs punted. The 49ers offense gets bailed out by the defense again. They need points.
– McCaffrey hasn’t touched the ball in four plays. Instead Purdy had to get rid of it to Jennings for a huge loss on first down. Just terrible, terrible offense. Shanahan has abandoned the run game completely.
– Three-and-out. Abominable. The 49ers aren’t going to hold the Chiefs to three points and these wasted opportunities on offense are going to be the reason they lose this game if they do.
– Now Samuel is hurt. It’s an apparent leg injury. The wheels are starting to come off.
– Conley is having an unbelievable special teams game. He’s had a pair of incredible tackles on punts and downed a punt inside the 5.
– Kelce working on Oren Burks goes for 11 yards and an easy first down. That’s going to be there all night.
– Chiefs offense is rolling now. Mahomes scrambled for a first down on a third-and-short and barreled through Lenoir for a first down.
– Nice pursuit by Nick Bosa on a first-and-10 and force a throwaway by Mahomes.
– Good tackle by Lenoir this time on a third-and-8 to force a 57-yard field goal for the Chiefs. It’s 10-6, 49ers.
– McCaffrey finally gets a carry and he was stuffed for no gain. The 49ers need to keep rolling with that though.
– Purdy misses Aiyuk on second-and-10. He looks so uncomfortable in the pocket.
– Another three-and-out. Embarrassing showing for the 49ers’ offense in the second half.
– Unbelievable mistake by the 49ers. Kansas City’s punt hit rookie CB Darrell Luter Jr. and McCloud couldn’t jump on it. The Chiefs are in the red zone.
– What a disaster. Chiefs lead on a wide open TD pass to Marquez Valdez-Scantling. It’s 13-10, Chiefs. They’ve rattled off 13 points in a row while the 49ers offense has three total second-half yards.
– Purdy’s first-down throw is batted down at the line. The 49ers’ offensive line is really struggling to keep Purdy clean.
– Good run by McCaffrey on second down to give the 49ers a third-and-manageable. They haven’t been able to get there at all in the third quarter.
– Third-and-Jauan. Purdy snaps a streak of four consecutive incompletions on a third-and-5. He hit Jennings on an out and Jennings created some yards after the catch.
– Jennings again. Sick block on a screen to Samuel for nine yards.
– The quarter ends on an inside handoff to Kyle Juszczyk, who plows ahead for a first down. San Francisco finally looks like it has a little rhythm on offense.
End of third quarter: Chiefs 13, 49ers 10
Fourth quarter
– Good throw to Aiyuk to open the fourth quarter for 20 yards to get the 49ers near the red zone.
– Shot play for Samuel, who was open, but Purdy had to rush his throw and overthrew him.
– Third-and-2, the 49ers try an outside run and it loses a yard. The 49ers offensive front got smoked on that play.
– Fourth-and-3 and a gutsy call from Shanahan to call a pass. Purdy hit Kittle for four yards and a first down. That’s Kittle’s first catch.
– Now Purdy hits Jennings for a 10-yard touchdown! Shanahan put it in his QB’s hands and Purdy delivered the go-ahead score.
– The extra point was blocked. Un. Real. Special teams is killing the 49ers in the second half. Two MAJOR mistakes on easy plays like fielding a punt and kicking an extra point. San Francisco is still up 16-13, but now the Chiefs can tie with a field goal, and the 49ers will need a TD if Kansas City punches in a touchdown.
– Easy pitch and catch to Kelce who worked Tashaun Gipson. The Chiefs might score every time they touch it.
– Good run stop by Armstead. He’s had a fine game.
– The Chiefs are picking on Gipson and Logan Ryan — the two aging vets in the 49ers’ secondary.
– Kelce wide open on third-and-10. Inexcusable from the 49ers. That simply cannot happen.
– Another wide open receiver. Watson takes it to the 49ers’ 20. This is so easy for Kansas City. The 49ers just don’t have the horses in the secondary.
– Now it’s Pacheco rolling with back-to-back eight-yard carries. The Chiefs are inside the 5. San Francisco is out of answers.
– Good coverage on third-and-goal for the 49ers. Lenoir was all over Kelce. Great work by San Francisco to stiffen up in the red zone.
– It’s tied at 16 after Butker drilled a short field goal. There’s 5:46 left and the 49ers have the ball. They can’t abandon the run on this series.
– Strike to Jennings from Purdy to open the drive. Getting the pass game going could help loosen up things on the ground.
– End around to Samuel gets nine yards. Expecting plenty of the rushing attack with the clock ticking inside 4:30.
– McCaffrey gets the first down on second-and-short.
– Five more for McCaffrey on first down. The 49ers are doing a great job of moving a tired Chiefs defense.
– Second-and-5 play action gets sniffed out for no gain on a completion to Kittle. Sweet play by Chiefs CB Trent McDuffie to get over and drop the 49ers’ TE.
– Two-minute warning with the 49ers facing a third-and-5. This is unbelievable drama.
– Incomplete on third-and-4. The 49ers missed a free runner and McDuffie got home to force a throw away.
– Moody bangs it home from 53 yards out to give the 49ers a 19-16 lead. There’s 1:53 left which is an eternity, especially since Kansas City has two timeouts.
– It’s unreal how wide open Kelce gets. He got 11 on first down. Uncovered.
– Now TE Noah Gray gets 14. The 49ers need to figure out how to cover a TE.
– It took three plays for the Chiefs to get in field goal range. Brutal.
– Third-and-2 the 49ers bring pressure for some reason and Jerick McKinnon was wide open for an easy first down. Not an awesome call for Steve Wilks.
– Kelce wide open gets down to the 10. He beat Fred Warner in coverage. That gives KC a shot at the end zone. Wow. That might be the game.
– Great coverage by Warner on Kelce on the Chiefs’ end zone shot. He stayed with the TE to the front pylon and knocked the throw away.
– Tied up on a short Butker field goal. It’s 19-all. That blocked extra point looms enormous.
End of fourth quarter: 49ers 19, Chiefs 19
Overtime
– Purdy’s first overtime throw goes into Samuel in a tight window and it was nearly intercepted.
– Now a false start on Aiyuk makes it second-and-15. That likely takes a run off the table so this is all on Purdy now.
– HUGE. A defensive holding bails out the 49ers on a third-and-14. Purdy’s throw slipped out of his hand for an incomplete pass and they would’ve punted if not for the defensive penalty.
– Oh no. Kittle just got shown jogging to the locker room. It’s a shoulder injury per the broadcast.
– Purdy to Aiyuk on third-and-2. That was a strike from the QB in a huge spot.
– The 49ers run game is working nicely. They need to stick to it.
– What a play by Purdy to find McCaffrey while he’s under pressure. He got a flip up over the top to the RB in the flat on a second-and-6 for a 24-yard pickup and a first down. They need to keep feeding their best player.
– A holding penalty on Brayden Willis eliminates a first-down run by Elijah Mitchell. That’s BRUTAL.
– Bang. Purdy to Juszczyk for a first down on second-and-12. That was a huge play by both of them and Purdy bought all sorts of time.
– That might be the game. Third-and-4 and Purdy can’t find Jennings, who was wide open. Chris Jones won his rep and got inside to force the bad throw.
– Moody hits from 27 to give the 49ers a 22-19 lead, but that doesn’t feel like enough with how the Chiefs offense is rolling.
– Rough. Fourth-and-1 Mahomes scrambles for a bunch and a first down. The Chiefs are nearing field goal range.
– Big-time tackle for loss on a completion to Valdez-Scantling. He had yards, but got spun backwards and stayed up for a tackle-for-loss of four yards.
– Third-and-long and the 49ers bring pressure to no avail. Rice snags on easy completion for a first down. KC is in field goal range.
– KC is in TD range after a 13-yard Mahomes scramble.
– Touchdown to Mecole Hardman. Ball game.
Final score: Chiefs 25, 49ers 22
