By Jacob Malik
Contributor
For the first time in 50 years, the Kansas City Chiefs made it to the Super Bowl and won by defeating the San Francisco 49ers by a final score of 31-20.
The game got off to a relatively slow start, with neither team getting much going in the entirety of the first half. After shutting the Chiefs down on the opening possession, the 49ers then proceeded to march downfield; however, the Chiefs’ defense was able to stop their momentum and force a field goal try to make it 3-0.
The Chiefs drove down the field and converted on a 4th and 1 with a smart trick play, a direct snap to running back Damien Williams. And just two plays later on second down, Patrick Mahomes took it in himself for a touchdown as KC takes a 7-3 lead.
Just two plays into the 2nd quarter, 49ers’ Quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo was pressured by Chris Jones and hit by Mike Pennel, causing him to throw an ill advised pass that was intercepted by Bashaud Breeland. The Chiefs then went down the field and kicked a field goal to extend their lead to 10-3.
On the ensuing 49ers drive, the running game finally picked up some momentum after being held to basically nothing for a quarter and half. The 49ers proceeded to run three straight running plays of 10 or more yards and five straight plays of 10 or more including a 15-yard touchdown pass from Garoppolo to fullback Kyle Juszczyk.
What made this play by Juszczyk so impressive was that he was nearly tackled yards before the endzone and proceeded to break the tackle and dive for the endzone. The score was now 10-10 and would remain as such going into halftime.
The 49ers would start the second off similarly to how they ended it, they marched down the field but were eventually stopped and forced to kick a field goal to take a 13-10 lead.
On the ensuing drive we saw a promising start to the drive as Mahomes threw for 19 yards to wide receiver Sammy Watkins, but this would be the biggest gain for the Chiefs in the third quarter.
The Chiefs would get one more first down on this drive before stand out defensive rookie Nick Bosa forced a fumble on second down; Mahomes luckily scooped up his own fumble. On the next play, things fell apart, and on 3rd and 12 Mahomes threw an interception to 49ers Fred warner.
Jimmy Garoppolo then marched his team down field with the highlights being a pass to Deebo Samuel for 16 yards and another pass to Kendrick Bourne for 27 yards. All of this would be capped off by a Raheem Mostert 1-yard touchdown to take a 20-10 lead that would take them into the 4th quarter.
On the first drive of the 4th quarter Mahomes threw an interception that may be credited to him, but was in no way his fault, as it was tipped off Tyreek Hill’s hands before being intercepted.
However, the Chiefs’ defense would manage to stop the 49ers, and from there on out, it was all Chiefs.
The next three drives would go as such: Mahomes threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Travis Kelce which made the score now 20-17 49ers. The Chiefs’ defense then forced a 49ers punt and then scored yet another touchdown for Mahomes and company to take a 24-20 lead.
With 2 minutes and 39 seconds left in the game the 49ers got the ball back with a chance to win the Super bowl.
The 49ers would get two first downs but that would be it. Garoppolo would have three straight incompletions including what would have been an easy touchdown to Emmanuel Sanders had he not overthrown it.
On 4th and 10 Frank Clark would seal the victory with a sack to force a turnover on downs and give the Chiefs the ball back with 1 minute and 25 seconds left in the game. Damien Williams of the Chiefs would put the final nail in the coffin with a 38-yard touchdown run to put the team up 31-20.
Despite being one of the best in the NFL this season, the 49ers’ defense did not play well enough to slow down the red-hot Kansas City Chiefs’ offense. With this victory, Patrick Mahomes became the first player under 25 to win MVP of the league as well as a Superbowl title, and for the first time in 50 years the Kansas City Chiefs are world champions.
