I have mixed emotions about how the Superbowl played out this year, it was really an odd game. An odd day for me too, I usually get the time off work to see it live but couldn't this time - I recorded it and had a total media embargo to ensure I did not know the result or highlights until I saw the replay that night!
Before the game my heart was hoping the Chiefs would win (so good to see Andy Reid finally become a Superbowl winning coach) while my head was thinking the 49ers defense would be too strong.
By the end, I got the odd feeling that maybe the better team on the day lost. Yes it's true that champion teams do the important things when it matters, and the Chiefs certainly did just that. The only thing is, like the Patriots against the Falcons a few years ago, they really should not have got the opportunity...
For a large chunk of game the 49ers dominated, and Mahomes was at best very ordinary under pressure from Bosa & company, some of his passes were downright terrible - yes he came through on the final two scoring drives, but I agree with the comment that Williams really should have been the MVP.
On the flip side, there was a long stretch where Garoppolo could basically do no wrong - he had what, 14 completions out of 16 passes at one stage with a QB rating of around 127? Then came the turning points of the game deep in the last quarter...
Shannahan & the 49ers coaches choked - after so much success from getting in Mahomes face, they went to a prevent defense which gave him way too much time to fire the deep pass to Hill who found a hole in the zone. This gave them the momentum & position to get the score and be back in the contest.
In contrast, Reid & Spags defensively turned the dogs loose and dialled up the blitzes to deny Garoppolo the time to pick them apart (which he had done for over half the game) which led to in my opinion the biggest turning point of all, the missed call for a helmet to helmet hit on Jimmy G.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1224161619439165441Every other day of the season this is a roughing the passer personal foul, 15 year penalty and automatic first down. Even with a concussed QB at the very least the 49ers could have run three rushing plays and burned somewhere between 90-110 seconds off the clock (or forced KC to burn their timeouts) and that's without getting a first down which in itself would be pretty close to icing the game in the 49ers favour. After that the rest is history.
I would not call the officials biased (even though it was amusing to see the referee after the 49ers had won the coin toss and defer, turn to KC and ask what they wanted to do: did they want to receive the kick?!) but the standard was very poor, especially for a Superbowl. It seems like they were instructed to stay out of the game as much as possible and only call the extremely obvious (like the two correct pass interference calls which I have absolutely no issues with) but they choked at crucial times. They refused to call holding penalties all day. They also muffed on a delay of game and encroachment penalty near the end of the game when it was still in the balance - you could see the whistle in the referee's mouth, he literally choked on it! Just terrible.
So that's it for another season. While I am happy that Andy Reid, Mahomes and KC won it, the Referees impact on the outcome along with the 49ers coaches giving the game away has really left me feeling a bit sour. Kind of sums up my last year (or two).
Author