49ers ready for Super Bowl rematch vs. Chiefs, four years later

LAS VEGAS — As the final seconds of Super Bowl LIV ticked away, the devastated San Francisco 49ers stood in stunned silence on the sidelines at Hard Rock Stadium after blowing a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter.

In the aftermath of that 31-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the then-upstart Niners took solace in the thought that their reign atop the NFC was just beginning. A mic'd George Kittle was filmed swearing he would back to the big game “with a vengeance.” Defensive end Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner, then in their first and second seasons in the league, respectively, thought they would not only be back, but that it would happen on short notice.

“When you're young and naive, you think when you go so early in your career, you're like, 'Man, that's just how it is, you go to the Super Bowl every year,'” Warner said. “This is not the case.”

As Warner and the Niners can attest, reaching that point isn't easy. The years since the Super Bowl near miss have provided damning evidence of just how difficult it is to come back.

Now, the 49ers are back on the game's biggest stage. As a bonus, they'll get another chance against coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium (6:30 p.m. ET Sunday, CBS). Even though it's been four years, it seems much longer to Bosa who says “a lot has happened” since the previous trip.

The 49ers experienced a 2020 season marked by an avalanche of serious injuries. Then, two disappointing losses in the NFC Championship Game in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. They experienced difficult player and coaching departures and a never-ending series of questions about which quarterback could lead them back to the promised land .

“It’s very tough,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “When you go from January to February every year, it's just a long time. But you still feel it afterwards, whether you lose an NFC championship, whether you lose a Super Bowl. You ask anyone, if it's one of them, if it's two of them. them.

“After that, you're like, 'Oh my God, it took so long and it took so long to get there. How can you do that again?'

THE RESPONSE TO The question of what exactly was the hardest part of returning to the Super Bowl depends on which member of the 49ers you ask. For Shanahan, it's easy: the 2020 season in which almost everything that could go wrong did.

As if the COVID-19 pandemic that forced NFL teams to play in front of empty stadiums and shut down the world wasn't enough, the 49ers roster was torn apart by injuries to Bosa, Kittle, defensive end Dee Ford and quarterback. Jimmy Garoppolo, receiver Deebo Samuel, running back Raheem Mostert and cornerback Richard Sherman. This group played 37 matches out of 112 possible (33%).

This team has lost 161.6 games to injuries, the second most of any team in the last 20 years, according to Football Outsiders' adjusted games lost metric (which also took into account players missing games for reasons of COVID-19). When December 2020 arrived, the Niners faced another challenge, as Santa Clara County kicked them out of their home facilities due to COVID-19 guidelines that temporarily banned contact sports.

The ban forced the Niners to move their entire operations to Glendale, Arizona, for the remainder of the season, where some players rented homes while others stayed at the Renaissance Hotel while they were playing the series of a 6-10 campaign.

“We had to go live in a hotel where COVID didn't seem so bad because outside our windows the whole state was open,” Shanahan said. “We got to see a Dave and Buster's, a movie theater and everyone was out. But we got kicked out of here because we couldn't play football outside. Then we were within the rules of the NFL where we're in a hotel for a while. “A month where we're not allowed to see each other. …It was like nice prison cells and we were able to go out for recreation. “

The following offseason featured a different type of drama, as the Niners searched for their long-term solution at quarterback after Garoppolo continued to struggle with injuries. They traded three first-round picks to the Miami Dolphins to move from No. 12 to No. 3 in the draft and used the pick on talented but raw quarterback prospect Trey Lance.

Although the Niners had intended to stick with Garoppolo as the starter while Lance learned, Garoppolo once again faced injury issues. Even with much of the team healthy again, they struggled to a 3-5 start and spent the final two months of the season treating every game like a playoff, sneaking into the playoffs thanks to a 17-point comeback in Week 18 vs. the Los Angeles Rams who pushed them to 10-7.

Led by Samuel's breakthrough season, the Niners advanced to a rematch against the Rams in the NFC Championship Game and built a 10-point lead through three quarters before losing by three, 20-17. Safety Jaquiski Tartt's dropped interception that could have helped ice the game was the indelible image of that loss.

In 2022, another slow start (3-4) turned into a 10-game winning streak to close the season at 13-4 with an NFC West division crown. Along the way, the 49ers traded for running back Christian McCaffrey and underwent several quarterback changes, as Lance was lost to a right ankle injury in Week 2 and Garoppolo broke his foot in a Week 13 win over Miami.

From there, rookie quarterback Brock Purdy became one of the most compelling stories of the season, leading San Francisco to the NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Quarterback injuries had been the story of the Niners' season up to that point, and returned that day when Purdy tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right (throwing) elbow a few plays into the game. Backup Josh Johnson was lost to a concussion shortly afterward and the Niners lost 31-7 in a game in which they played most of the second half with an incapacitated quarterback to throw the ball.

According to left tackle Trent Williams, the bad taste of those two losses in the NFC title game hasn't gone away, but the urgency to break through has increased.

“You want to get it all back in one day,” Williams said. “You want to win a championship on the first day of OTAs. But you have to be patient and understand that it's a marathon, it's not a sprint. It takes a little bit of luck but for the most part it's It's about focus and being able to set a standard and being able to achieve that standard every Sunday.

THROUGHOUT THE FENCE appeals and disappointments, the Niners have had to figure out how to compete even as other teams poach some of their best coaches and players. Defensive coordinators DeMeco Ryans (Houston Texans) and Robert Saleh (New York Jets) and offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel (Dolphins) all left for head coaching jobs and took other members of Shanahan's staff with them with them.

The Niners also made the difficult decision to trade defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts, and saw key players such as Mostert, defensive tackle DJ Jones, right tackle Mike McGlinchey and guard Laken Tomlinson leave in free agency and had to adjust to the draft. Missing Lance – who was traded in August – and defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, the first of their two first-round picks in 2020.

“Every year is so unique,” ​​Kittle said. “That's what makes it so difficult… You can't keep everyone; you can't pay everyone. You have to fill the gaps, you have to bring in new players. You have to try to keep your culture.

“There are so many pieces that interplay, and so to continue to win as many regular season games as we do and make the playoffs, it's very difficult.”

No one knows better than these Niners how tough it is. San Francisco enters this game as healthy as could be expected and has more offensive firepower than last time with the additions of McCaffrey, Williams and Brandon Aiyuk (their second first-round pick in 2020 ), as well as more experienced versions of Kittle. , Samuel and fullback Kyle Juszczyk. They have eight players, including seven starters, who played in Super Bowl LIV and a quarterback – Purdy – who they believe can be the difference this time around.

These Niners hope the trials of their journey back to this Super Bowl have strengthened their resolve to finish the job and win the franchise's long-awaited sixth Lombardi Trophy, a trophy they haven't won since winning against the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX following the 1994 season.

“We have to pay,” said general manager John Lynch. “No one really remembers who lost in the Super Bowl. If you want to be remembered…here's your opportunity.”