NFL Fantasy Football Reactions: Super Bowl LVIII

What a game! Both teams were deserving champions. As we know, only one team walks away with the trophy. As many people who bet the Chiefs banked on, they said don't bet against Patrick Mahomes. When the game was on the line, Mahomes didn't disappoint. 

Do you remember when the Chiefs' lost to the Raiders on Christmas Day? At that time, many analysts thought that this would not be the Chiefs' season. Between great coaching, a number of high-profile players, championship experience and Mahomes, Kansas City ran the table. They were especially impressive in winning at Buffalo and Baltimore on the road. They capped it off with an instant classic victory in Super Bowl LVIII.

At this exact point of his career, not all time, Mahomes is the best QB we've seen. He matched Tom Brady with Super Bowl titles (again at this stage of their careers). However, Mahomes has the lead (through six years as a starter) over Brady in just about every other meaningful category. We definitely can't compare Mahomes to Brady on a large scale until another decade or so passes. 

This was an especially painful loss for the 49ers. They had the advantage of paying Brock Purdy next to nothing. With so much money saved at QB, the team was able to build a roster full of stars. Maybe they can run much of this squad back again. Eventually, they'll have to pay Purdy. That will lead to many players having to leave the team. Maybe San Francisco will be fine next year. That said, I imagine they have to be thinking this could have been their best chance to win a title with their roster base.

49ers' First-Half Reactions

• To start the game, the 49ers offense looked sharp on the ground. Christian McCaffrey was finding space. Kyle Juszczyk was mixed in on an 18-yard pass that caught the Chiefs off guard. Once the 49ers got the ball into field-goal range. McCaffrey fumbled. Obviously there was plenty of football to play. That said, 49ers fans had to wonder if that mistake would come back to haunt them.
• For the rest of the half, the Chiefs made adjustments to attack the run. McCaffrey did very little on the ground the rest of the half. Once the rushing attack began to struggle, I began to wonder if the coaching staff would later have some second-half adjustments to expose the amount of attention the Chiefs were dedicating to McCaffrey,
• Meanwhile, through the air, the 49ers' trio of George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk had a total of 42 first-half receiving yards. San Francisco was able to get their 10 first-half points by getting help from ancillary players. The team was not having success getting the ball to their stars. Much credit must be given to the Chiefs defense and Steve Spagnuolo.  My thought was that if the 49ers were going to put up significant points in this game, I thought they would need to get at least some of their receivers going in the second half.
• Otherwise, the 49ers offense was resourceful. On consecutive plays on their first field-goal drive, Chris Conley caught an 18-yard pass to move the chains on third down. Then, Ray-Ray McCloud caught a 19-yard pass to get the team in field goal range. Despite the success, I'm sure the Chiefs could live with San Francisco throwing the ball to their lesser players.
• With a 3-0 lead, the run game was still sputtering. However, the 49ers were aided by a personal foul to get them near the red zone. Kyle Shanahan cooked up a trick play. Brock Purdy threw a lateral across the field to Jauan Jennings. The receiver took a lot of time before throwing a lollipop of a pass all the way across the field. Fortunately, McCaffrey attacked the ball and quickly turned upfield for an easy TD. At this point, it was one major play for Jennings. Sometimes, for a team to win a big game, they need something exceptional from an unexpected source. We would hear more from Jennings later.
• The 49ers had a double digit lead. They would go into the locker room up 10-3.
• One additional concern I had  going into the second half was the Achilles' injury that Dre Greenlaw suffered. The injury occurred when he was running on the field for a change of possession. Knowing that Kansas City would eventually get their offense going, the loss of Greenlaw was potentially a massive deal.

Chiefs' First-Half Reactions

• To say the Chiefs had a disappointing first half is an understatement.
• On the first two drives, Kansas City ran seven offensive plays. Both drives ended with punts. Both Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice caught screen passes with the plays totaling one yard. Kelce was a non-factor during the entire first half.  Another problem the Chiefs had was protecting Patrick Mahomes. 49ers' edge rusher Chase Young was repeatedly beating left tackle Donovan Smith. In the half, Mahomes was sacked twice and was called for intentional grounding. It was beginning to look like the 49ers defense may have had an answer for the Kansas City offense. The Chiefs were a team that had been doing well in the first half of games. Many of their struggles this season came in the second half.
• Of course, the team had their chances to score. Their big chance came early in the second quarter. Rashee Rice was bailed out by his team when his fumble was recovered. On the next play, Mahomes threw a 52-yard dime to Mecole Hardman to put the ball on the 49ers' nine-yard line. On the next play, Isiah Pacheco fumbled the ball away. Certainly, it wasn't optimal to have such a critical turnover. However, if there's a team built to overcome it, Kansas City is just that team.
• Finally, they started a scoring drive with 4:23 left in the half. The key was getting Rashee Rice involved. The big play was Patrick Mahomes evading a Nick Bosa rush on third down. That led to a 21-yard completion to Justin Watson. The rest of the drive featured Rice. Once they got inside the 20, the offense broke down. Harrison Butker hit a 28-yard chip shot to send the game into the half down 10-3. The Chiefs had to feel good about going into the locker room down one score. Defensively, the 49ers were somewhat held in check. Offensively, they would be able to tweak their game plan.

49ers' Second-Half Reactions

• San Francisco had their chances in this game. They made mistakes that cost them. There are teams the 49ers could have gotten away with not being at their best against. Kansas City was not one of them.
• On the Chiefs' first drive of the second half, Patrick Mahomes was pressured into throwing an interception. As a result, the 49ers had the ball near midfield. If Kyle Shanahan had set up halftime adjustments on offense, the team had a chance to blow the game open. That definitely didn't happen. Instead of changing up their rushing attack and trying to attack on the ground, the play calling was defiant. Brock Purdy was called upon to throw early and often. That allowed the Chiefs to play to their strengths- pass defense and blitzes.
• Not only did the 49ers go three and out with great field position on that first drive, but they went three and out on their first three drives of the half. It was the same story. Inexplicably, one of the best running teams in the league was doubling down on a passing attack that was clearly not working well.
• Things got worse on the 49ers' third punt of the half. A special teams error led to the ball bouncing off a blocker's foot. That gave the Chiefs the ball on the San Francisco 16-yard line. Before they blinked, the 49ers trailed for the first time by a 13-10 score.
• As the fourth quarter began, the Niners were driving the ball. However, when they were near the Chiefs' 15-yard line, they faced a fourth and three. Not many fans would have questioned taking the three points. After all of the errors they made, a tie may not have been terrible. Fortunately, Shanahan sent the offense onto the field. George Kittle collected his first catch of the game to move the chains. On the next play, KC sent an all-out blitz. That led to Purdy hitting Jennings on a slant. The receiver broke a tackle and found the end zone. If the 49ers were going to win this game, Jennings was making a strong case to be the MVP.
• Immediately after the score, another error occurred. Jake Moody kicked the ball low on the PAT attempt, allowing the Chiefs to block it. That kick could have put the Niners up by four. That could have been huge. Another missed opportunity.
• The next time San Francisco got the ball back was with 5:46 left with the game tied at 16. The offense began to click. One of the plays was a 23-yard catch by Jennings. Again, if the 49ers could pull this out, that catch made his MVP case stronger. It began to appear that the team could move the ball down the field, drain the clock and have a game-winning field goal attempt with the clock reading zero. It didn't work out that way. A third-down pass to Kittle gained one yard, giving San Francisco a third-and-four. If the 49ers convert this play, their win probability would go through the roof. 
• I was thinking this through. There are no wrong answers here. But if I have two plays to get four yards, giving it twice to McCaffrey may have made the most sense. If he can't get the four yards, you probably don't deserve to win anyway. As was the case throughout the game, Shanahan called a pass play. On the other side, Steve Spagnuolo had the same desperation. As he's done often this year, he dialed up a slot corner blitz with Trent McDuffie. The CB deflected the ball. It was fourth down. Still, the Chiefs had two timeouts and would get the ball back with just less than two minutes. That's not what the 49ers wanted. Regardless, they brought on Jake Moody. The rookie nailed a 53-yard kick to give the 49ers the lead. Although the lead was nice. Most rational San Francisco fans had to feel like that inability to convert the first down would hurt. It did. The next time they would see the ball (aside from a kneel down) was in overtime.

Chiefs' Second-Half Reactions

• When the Chiefs had the decision after the coin flip, they did as expected. They wanted the ball in the second half. Trailing by a touchdown, if their strategy worked, they could have a tie game with a lot of football to play. Unfortunately, the drive was a disaster. On the first play, Mahomes made an errant pitch to Isiah Pacheco, leading to a 12-yard loss. Two plays later Mahomes threw an interception. 
• It worked out that the 49ers punted the ball right back. Still, the Chiefs had another three and out.
• After that, Kansas City went with a unique approach (that's a joke). They started throwing the ball to Travis Kelce on every important down. Mahomes also had a couple of important runs to move the chains. In most situations, the 49ers looked like the Ravens two weeks ago. They rarely paid any special attention to Kelce. Big mistake for San Francisco. Great opportunity for the Chiefs. Even though their first score of the half came with 5:01 left in the third quarter, the Chiefs still trailed 10-6. During the week, I went from deciding not to bet the spread in this game to going with the 49ers. After this latest score, I was able to cash out my bet with a tiny profit. Momentum is often a real thing. I felt the Chiefs had it.
• Although KC would get one more third-quarter drive, they were unable to get a first down despite having had a second down-and-two to go. 
• Still trailing by three points, it was clear that Isiah Pacheco was able to get a few chunk runs, but he wasn't consistently moving the chains. If the Chiefs were going to have success, it would be with Mahomes. A pair of big plays to Kelce and Justin Watson moved the ball inside the 10-yard line. Unfortunately, the offense broke down. That led to Harrison Butker kicking a chip-shot field goal to tie the game with 5:46 left. Momentum still seemed to be with the Chiefs, but they were going to need their defense to get the ball back.
• On the last drive of regulation, Kansas City needed a field goal to tie or a TD to win. They had 1:53 on the clock and two timeouts. That's an eternity for Mahomes. As they drove the ball, Kelce came up with two big plays. On a third down, Mahomes found Jerick McKinnon to beat a blitz and move the chains. A few plays later, Fred Warner was lined up over Kelce. The tight end made an incredible juke move and was wide open in a nanosecond to move the chains on third down. At that point, the Chiefs had let too much time run off the clock. They had six seconds left after a pass to Kelce in the end zone that fell incomplete. They were forced to bring out Butker to send the game to overtime. 

Overtime Reactions

• It was useful that the announcers reminded the audience about the new overtime rules. Even if one team scored a TD on the first drive, the other team would have a chance to answer. I was heavily invested in betting under 47.5 on this game. I began to realize that even though it was an easy call based on regulation, if both teams scored TDs, this game was going over. The sweat was on!
• The 49ers came out and immediately made the same mistake they had made for much of the second half. They came out in an empty backfield and decided to throw. San Francisco was all set for another quick punt. They were fortunate there was a defensive holding call to move the chains. At that point, Shanahan seemed to have a moment of clarity. They went back to featuring Christian McCaffrey. It worked. The offense moved the ball to the Chiefs' eight-yard line and had a second down and four. McCaffrey was stuffed. On third down, Purdy was under pressure, forcing him to throw the ball away. Although Moody hit the short field goal, Patrick Mahomes was going to get the ball with a chance to win.
• On the last drive, I wondered how the 49ers defense would play it. Would they gang up on Kelce? Would they send more pressure than usual? Also, how would the Chiefs approach their offense? I thought they may go pass heavy to try and avoid tough down and distance situations. As it worked out, they didn't have many answers left.
• Early in the drive, the Chiefs were faced with a fourth and one. I didn't think they would challenge with a running back. Maybe a bootleg or sneak from Mahomes. Possibly a screen to Kelce. Kansas City went into shotgun. That gave Mahomes a great sightline- he ran the ball for an easy first down at the SF 41.
• Marquez Valdes-Scantling made a bad play. He caught a pass for seven yards. However, he was spun around and didn't give himself up. By losing the forward progress based on his reaction, he lost four yards on the play. It didn't matter. Mahomes took over. He spread the ball around to different teammates. He kept moving the chains. Then the dagger. He found Mecole Hardman in the right side of the end zone on a beautifully designed pass play. Our newest NFL dynasty found a way to win. Patrick Mahomes was the clear MVP. The 49ers were left to ask themselves many questions.