The 49ers let a star player get one opportunity after another to pull the Chiefs back into the Super Bowl, and that’s exactly what he did.
The Niners lost Super Bowl LVIII in devastating fashion to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, falling 25-22 in overtime. San Francisco led by 10 until late in the second quarter, at which point it began coughing up the lead.
Although the 49ers had plenty of opportunities to make it more difficult for the Chiefs to claw back in, they repeatedly made backbreaking errors. There was a blocked extra point, a muffed punt, turnovers, missed blocking assignments – you name it.
The 49ers had more talent across the board and were the more consistent team in the regular season. But while the Chiefs put things together in time for the postseason, the 49ers dealt with one close call after another this postseason until dancing with danger burned them at the worst possible time.
It’s a familiar pain for the 49ers, who now have lost to the Chiefs in the title game twice over the last four years.
Bonta Hill ripped the team, specifically the offense and head coach Kyle Shanahan, during a tirade Monday on The Morning Roast.
“What the Niners did yesterday,” Hill said, “Fumbling on the first possession, muffing a punt, having an extra point blocked, being 3-of-12 on third down, not burning a timeout before second down on the Chiefs last possession in the first half so you don’t get the ball back for basically an hour in real time – you run one little rinky-dink play to Christian McCaffrey with two timeouts and you don't even stretch the field. It’s the Super Bowl, can we try a deep shot? What are we doing here? Can we throw a deep shot? Give me something.
“It’s about what you do, and the Niners shot themselves in the foot over and over,” he continued. “You knew when Mahomes got that ball back, damn, we’re about to lose the Super Bowl like this? We knew it. Kansas City was so calm and collected on the game-winning touchdown drive. … This is on the Niners, and that offense and Shanahan. That’s it.
"It’s about what (the 49ers) did, and what they didn’t do, and they didn’t show up in the biggest game of the season. And this is karma for not playing a full game against Detroit, not playing a full game against Green Bay, it came back to bite you in the butt. This is sickening, man. Shanahan again.”