The exciting 2023-24 NFL season came to an end nearly 24 hours back. In a thrilling encounter where the ball rolled from one corner to another frequently, the Chiefs emerged victorious in OT. Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, led a touchdown drive and secured the Championship for the Chiefs for the consecutive time.
After the game, the Niners players came up with a weird explanation for their lack of show in the OT. Some of the players admitted that they were not aware of the changed rules in the OT.
Kyle Juszczyk, the fullback of the team, said:
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.
His words were also pretty similar to what his head coach, Kyle Shanahan, stated. Shanahan, after the game, claimed that none of the Niners players had much experience in dealing with OT.
Following all these embarrassing admissions by 49ers players, analyst Stephen A. Smith expressed his disgrace over the Niners players and associates. In the latest episode of the show ‘First Take,’ the analyst said,
No. 1, this particular situation is a smear on the entire organization–and let me tell you why. No. 1, you’re the coach, Kyle Shanahan. It’s your job to make sure you articulate what the situation is, that your players know all the rules they need to know. That’s No. 1!
The opinion from the analyst clearly delivered his disgrace with the 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. He was frustrated with the statement that the HC and his players made.
The NFL made a new regulation on the overtime rule
The NFL had a different rule regarding overtime earlier. Teams used to be declared victorious if they scored first in OT. Later, the NFL came out with a regulation. The league changed its OT rules during the 2022 offseason in large part due to the ending of the Bills-Chiefs divisional round game.
It decided to give both teams an equal share of opportunities to score. That suggests, that even if a team scores a touchdown by getting the ball first, the other team will have an opportunity to equalize and win the game.
Patrick Mahomes (Via Imago)In the Super Bowl LVIII game, similar things happened. The 49ers got the first ball and scored a field goal. However, the Chiefs came back and Patrick Mahomes scored a touchdown that secured the Championship.
To highlight how embarrassing it was to see Shanahan’s men bizarrely claiming they were unaware of the OT rules, Smith said in the same segment,
Overtime is sudden death. Overtime is, ‘Everything is on the line right now.’ And it’s the Super Bowl championship that’s on the line, and you’re literally saying you weren’t aware of it? That is just embarrassing and that is a negligence of duty.
The 49ers had a dream season but failed on the biggest stage. They have to start from scratch in the offseason now.
