49ers players say they didn’t know Super Bowl overtime rules،
Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs took advantage of the NFL's playoff overtime rules to once again beat the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.
While several Chiefs players and coaches said they had a strategy prepared in case the Super Bowl went on, several 49ers players admitted they weren't even aware of the rules.
“I didn't even know about the new overtime rule in the playoffs, so that was a surprise to me,” Niners defensive lineman Arik Armstead said. “I didn’t even really know what was going on about that.”
Sunday night's game was the second of 58 Super Bowls tied after regulation. It was the first game played under new overtime rules that guarantee both teams a chance to possess the ball before the game ends — unless the first overtime drive ends in a safety. This differs from the rules governing overtime in the regular season, where the game ends if the first team to possess the ball scores a touchdown.
After winning the overtime coin toss on Sunday, the 49ers elected to receive the ball to start the extra period. But their 13-play drive ended with Jake Moody's 27-yard field goal and set the stage for Mahomes, who orchestrated his own 13-play drive punctuated by a game-winning 3-yard touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman who sealed the 25 for the Chiefs. -22 victory.
Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said he and his analytics team discussed overtime possibilities before the game, but Armstead and guard Kyle Juszczyk both said the overtime strategy doesn't work. had not been discussed with 49ers players before the Super Bowl.
“You know what? I didn't even realize the playoff rules were different in overtime,” Juszczyk said. “I guess 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.”
Armstead added that he first realized the playoff overtime rules were different when he saw them posted on the scoreboard at Allegiant Stadium.
“They put it on the scoreboard, and everyone was like, 'Oh, even if you score, they still have a chance,'” Armstead said.
The Chiefs, conversely, said they were well prepared to face a possible playoff overtime. Defensive lineman Chris Jones told reporters that Kansas City “talked for two weeks about new overtime rules,” while safety Justin Reid said their preparation began in training camp.
“We’ve talked about it all year,” Reid said. “We talked about it in training camp about how the rules were different in the regular season versus the playoffs. Every week of the playoffs we talked about the overtime rule.
Jones said that while the Niners scored a touchdown on their first overtime possession to take a seven-point lead, the Chiefs were prepared to “go for two” if they scored on the next possession.
“We knew what our game plan was: whether we won the toss, whether we wanted to postpone or not, and what our plan was from there,” Reid said.
Nick Wagoner of ESPN and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
