The San Francisco 49ers were on the brink of winning the Super Bowl on Sunday, but the team’s negligence may have cost them an opportunity to hoist the Lombardi trophy. In overtime, HC Kyle Shanahan opted to go on offense first with the hopes that Kansas City’s defense would be tired and this would play out in their favor.
However, the interpretation made by his offensive players was that Shanahan opted for offense because the first team that scores a touchdown wins. Kyle Juszczyk, the fullback for the 49ers, admitted that he was oblivious to the rule change along with other teammates of his.
You know what? I didn’t even realize the playoff rules were different in overtime. I assume you just want the ball to score a touchdown and win. I guess that’s not the case. I don’t totally know the strategy there. We hadn’t talked about it, no.
Kyle Juszczyk in post Super Bowl presser
His revelation is shocking considering the fact that this was the biggest game of the year, the Super Bowl is what football players train for, it is the culmination of years of hard work and to remain unaware of a key rule change reflects badly on the players as well as the coaching staff. The old rule in overtime put an end to the game as soon as one team scored the ball, but after teams and fans complained about how unjust it was, the NFL changed the rule in the playoffs.
The San Francisco 49ers were oblivious to the new OT rules in the playoffs
As per the new rules, both teams have a chance to gain possession of the ball. The game does not end after the first offensive team scores a touchdown.
The San Francisco 49ers played it safe on Sunday night. The team decided to opt for a field goal in OT and when the Chiefs gained possession of the ball, Patrick Mahomes made sure they found a way to get into the red zone.
Kyle Juszczyk (via Imago)If the players knew three points would not cut it, then the 49ers would probably have demanded Shanahan to draw up a play to get them to the end zone. The HC admitted that the coaches did bring up the rule to the players.
That’s something we talked about.
Shanahan
Along with Juszczyk, Arik Armstead was also unaware of the rule change.
I didn’t even know about the new playoff overtime rule, so it was a surprise to me, I didn’t even really know what was going on in terms of that.
Armstead
Here’s #49ers FB Kyle Juszczyk admitting he wasn’t aware of the new overtime rules:
“I assumed you just want the ball because you score a touchdown and win.”pic.twitter.com/6SHkhBgPOu https://t.co/NwBQxilmM4
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) February 12, 2024
The Chiefs, on the other hand, were completely well-versed with the new rule.
We talked for two weeks about new overtime rules. Give the ball to the opponent, if we score, we go for a two-point conversion.
Chiefs DT Chris Jones
Patrick Mahomes concurred with Jones’ statement and agreed that they would have opted to go for a two-point conversion in case the 49ers had scored a touchdown. Clearly, Kansas City was better prepared and this one small factor resulted in the team winning the Super Bowl.
