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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Doug Farrar

The most important plays of Super Bowl LVIII

Patrick Mahomes Chiefs Christian McCaffrey 49ers Mecole Hardman NFL CBS Super Bowl Super Bowl LVIII Chase Young

Every football game comes down to a series of moments that flip things in one direction or another. That’s the most true in the Super Bowl, where everything is magnified beyond all reason.

Through the first half of Super Bowl LVIII between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, here are the most important plays that have made the biggest difference in this particular game, which has the 49ers leading the Chiefs, 10-3.

Christian McCaffrey's first-quarter fumble.

(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

The Chiefs won the coin toss to start the game, and perhaps they wished they hadn’t. Immediately, the 49ers — mostly led by running back Christian McCaffrey — matriculated the ball down the field in ways that had to be disconcerting for Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

With 12:24 left in the first quarter, McCaffrey took the ball again, and this time, the structure of the game changed immediately when linebacker Leo Chenal tackled McCaffrey, forcing a fumble at the Kansas City 29-yard line that edge-rusher George Karlaftis picked up.

However, the Chiefs went three-and-out on their subsequent drive.

Chase Young's sack of Patrick Mahomes.

(Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

Edge-rusher Chase Young had been a bit of a disappointment for the 49ers since he was acquired from the Washington Commanders in mid-October, but Young came up big with 5:55 left in the first quarter. The Chiefs had the ball at their own 21-yard line following a 10-yard Isiah Pacheco run, but Young’s sack of Patrick Mahomes, in which Yong took left tackle Donovan Smith to the woodshed on the way to the quarterback.

The Chiefs wound up punting on that drive.

Trent McDuffie's deflection of a potential Deebo Samiel touchdown.

(Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

The 49er were absolutely the more explosive and productive team in the first quarter, but they struggled to turn those big plays into points. This was also the case at the start of the second quarter, when Brock Purdy hauled off with a huge downfield throw to Deebo Samuel, but Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie made an amazing play to deflect the ball away.

That deflection on third-and-14 from the Kansas City 37-yard line forced the 49ers to turn to kicker Jake Moody for the first points of the game. Nice history and all, but the 49ers were aiming for more.

Mahomes to Hardman.

(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Mahomes had his own big throw in him in the second quarter, and he was not similarly affected by great coverage, Quite the opposite. With 13:01 left in the first half, Mahomes threw an absolute dart to receiver Mecole Hardman, and safety Tashaun Gipson — usually a reliable veteran for Steve Wilks’ defense — got all turned around. Hardman made a nice catch, but woof.

Sadly for the Chiefs, that play mattered for about 30 seconds.

Isiah Pacheco's fumble.

((Photo by Harry How/Getty Images))

Isiah Pacheco has been one of the NFL’s better power backs this season, but he picked a very bad time to have a turnover problem… one play after Mahomes’ deep throw to Hardman.

The intentional grounding penalty that shouldn't have been.

(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

Mahomes was constantly hurried and hit and sacked through the first half, and while the Chiefs’ offensive line didn’t play exceedingly well, the real issue was the inability of Mahomes’ receivers to gain real separation — unless there was some kind of coverage bust as there was on the Mecole Hardman play. On the first play of the Chiefs’ fourth drive of the game, Mahomes didn’t see anything good downfield, and when the pass rush converged, Mahomes tried a little shovel pass to get the ball out, and was busted for intentional grounding. That took the ball from the Kansas City 20 to the Kansas City 10, and two plays later, the Chiefs were punting on their third of four drives — of course, the drive that didn’t end in a punt ended in a fumble.

Here’s the problem with that call from referee Bill Vinovich’s crew… it shouldn’t have been called.

A fairly significant gaffe near the end of an NFL season in which we’ve all been hoping and praying that we can get through one game without the zebras messing things up. Alas.

Jauan Jennings' touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey.

(Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports)

Obviously, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was tired of all those yards with only three points to show for it, because on second-and-10 from the Kansas City 21-yard line with 4:32 left in the first half, the call was for Purdy to hand the ball to receiver Jauan Jennings, who then threw the first touchdown pass of the game, with McCaffrey as the target.

That put the game at 10-0. Of course, the 49ers also had a 10-point lead in the third quarter when these two teams met in Super Bowl LIV… so we’ll see how that goes.

Arik Armstead's third-down red zone sack.

(Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

More pressure on Mahomes, and more issues for Mahomes connecting with his receivers — after a strong series of offensive performances throughout the playoffs, this first half was a flashback to the absolute nadir of Kansas City’s offensive dysfunctions. With 31 seconds left in the first half, the Chiefs had the ball at the San Francisco seven-yard line. But this was third down, and Mahomes spent a bit too much time drifting around waiting for something to happen. That allowed Arik Armstead to end any threat of a touchdown with this sack.

The Chiefs kicked a field goal to give them at least three points heading into the half, and to call this a disappointing performance by Kansas City’s offense would be understating the point to an extreme degree.

Ji'Ayir Brown's interception.

(Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports)

Things didn’t go any better for the Chiefs at the start of the second half than they did in the first half. Mahomes fumbled the opening snap of the second half and Pacheco managed to recover it, but that wound up as a 1-yard loss. Then, Mahomes got a little too tricky, and rookie safety Ji’Ayir Brown gave the ball to his team with the interception.

The 49ers were unable to capitalize, but the Chiefs’ offense continues to fall apart, with a great deal of assistance from San Francisco’s ravenous defense.

Patrick Mahomes' 22-yard run.

At a certain point, Mahomes was going to have to stop worrying about his non-existent passing game, and put things in his own hands… or, in this case, legs. With 7:16 left in the third quarter, Mahomes moved to his left, tried to find something open, and had to scramble for four yards instead.

By now, the 49ers were camping their safeties as close to the line of scrimmage as possible, showing no respect for the specter of a deep shot. But with 6:40 left in the third quarter — the very next play — San Francisco’s defense got a bit too aggressive, leaving Mahomes a cow pasture in the middle of the field, which he turned into a crucial 22-yard run.

Of course, the Chiefs couldn’t do much to take advantage there, but Harrison Butker broke Jake Moody’s Super Bowl record with a 57-yard field goal, giving the Chiefs a 10-6 deficit as opposed to 10-3.

Are we being rude if we say that it feels like a 20-point deficit the way this offense is operating for the most part?

Darrell Luter's muffed punt.

(Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports)

Perhaps we spoke too soon. On the Tommy Townsend punt following Mahomes’ big run, rookie cornerback Darrell Luter got his hands on the ball…which then went back to the Chiefs on the muff recovery.

Of course, you can guess what happened next…

Kansas City's go-ahead touchdown.

(Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

Yup. Mahomes with a 16-yard touchdown on the very next play, and the Chiefs were now up, 13-10. Hey, at least both teams scored touchdowns in this game!

Brock Purdy redeeming himself with his touchdown pass to Jauan Jennings.

(Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

With 14:14 left in the fourth quarter, Purdy had Deebo Samuel open in the end zone from the Kansas City 22-yard line, and flat-out overthrew him. Fortunately for the 49ers’ quarterback, he got another chance five plays later with this 10-yard touchdown pass to Jauan Jennings, who might have a real chance at MVP if San Francisco pulls this out.

Moody missed the extra point, which put the score at 16-13, 49ers.

Nick Moody's 53-yard field goal.

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Moody didn’t get his Super Bowl record back, but after kicking this 53-yarder with 1:57 left in the game to give his team a 19-16 lead, we’re guessing he doesn’t care about that.

Now, we’ll see how Mr. Mahomes responds.

Harrison Butker's 29-yard field goal.

With six seconds left in regulation, Harrison Butker booted the 29-yard field goal that sent the game into overtime with a 19-19 score after the 49ets knelt down to bleed the last three seconds. It’s the second Super Bowl to go into overtime — Super Bowl LI, in which the New England Patriots overcame a 28-3 deficit to win, 34-28, was the other.

Kyle Shanahan probably doesn’t want to think about that other one.

 

Patrick Mahomes' game-winning touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 11: Mecole Hardman Jr. #12 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates with Patrick Mahomes #15 after scoring the game-winning touchdown in overtime to defeat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 during Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

And that, as they say, was that.

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