Super Bowl LVIII has received lots of attention, from Taylor Swift dating Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce, to the newly-built Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas hosting the event. I was most excited for the game because of how incredibly exciting and talented both teams were this season – this year, the teams playing in the Super Bowl were the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, which was also a matchup of Super Bowl LIV in 2020 that played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida and ended in a 20-31 win for the Chiefs. Comparing each team in Super Bowl LVIII, as opposed to the teams in LIV, reveals that there are plenty of differences. The Chiefs have received new talent on both sides of the ball and have remained very talented, being led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes and experienced head coach Andy Reid. Meanwhile, the 49ers had a shift at quarterback since their Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs, with the very last pick (pick 262) of the 2022 NFL draft, they took quarterback Brock Purdy from Iowa State University. After spending most of the 2022-23 season on the bench, he got his chance after all of the other quarterbacks for the 49ers got hurt. After leading the 49ers through the playoffs and to the NFC Championship, he got injured as well, eventually leading the Philadelphia Eagles to Super Bowl LVII, where they lost to the Chiefs by three points. With that, the Chiefs were coming into this year’s Super Bowl as reigning champions, and the 49ers were coming in with the intention of knocking them off their pedestal.
Earlier in the week, both teams made the trip to Las Vegas. Neither team was coming from very far – the 49ers had an hour-and-a-half flight from San Francisco, and the Chiefs had a three hour flight from Kansas City. Both teams partook in media night, where the stadium was filled with both fans and reporters. At media night, players and coaches got to come face-to-face with the press, and reporters had the opportunity to hear from the players and coaches on their experiences this season.
Suspense rose higher and higher as the game got closer, and soon, it was Super Bowl Sunday. The game began with the National Anthem, sung by the famous Reba McEntire.
After the coin toss, the game was underway. The 49ers started with possession of the ball. After a strong drive, running back Christian McCaffrey fumbled the ball, causing a turnover – as a “completely unbiased source,” thank goodness the Chiefs didn’t score off said turnover. The game continued to be back and forth through the entire first quarter which ended with neither team having scored a single point.
The second quarter began with the first points of the game, coming from San Francisco 49ers rookie kicker Jake Moody’s fifty-five yard field goal. On the next drive, on which possession belonged to the Chiefs, they looked strong, with quarterback Patrick Mahomes tossing a sixty-yard pass into double coverage to receiver Mecole Hardman. On the next play, fifteen yards out from the endzone, running back Isiah Pacheco fumbled the ball after a defender punched it out of his hands, giving possession back to the 49ers. After this play, tight end (and boyfriend of Taylor Swift) Travis Kelce was seen shoving head coach Andy Reid, and screaming in his face, due to the fact that Kelce was not on the field for the play in which Pacheco fumbled the ball. Going into halftime, the score was 10-3 in favor of the 49ers.
The halftime show, I hate to say it, definitely didn’t add up to the expectations going into it. I’ll never forget Jennifer Lopez and Shakira’s show, along with Lady Gaga and Katy Perry’s, and those ones by far are the best of all time, and no show will ever be as incredible as those. The morning after the Super Bowl, after perusing social media platforms like Tik Tok, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter), I seem to be far from the only one who found the halftime performance to be disappointing and underwhelming.
To start the second half, despite the fact that the Chiefs came into the quarter playing much better than they had in the first half, Mahomes threw an interception. However, the 49ers were unable to capitalize on the opportunity. Both teams went back and forth until Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker made a fifty-seven yard field goal.
On the very next drive, the 49ers began to pick things up again, and after a risky play on fourth down paid off (i.e.: instead of kicking the field goal, they went for the first down on fourth), the 49ers scored a touchdown off a pass to receiver Jauan Jennings. Afterwards, the extra point attempt from Jake Moody was blocked. The Chiefs answered right back with a game-tying field goal, making the score 16-16.
In the last both minutes of the game, both teams ended up getting an additional field goal, sending the game to overtime. Recently, the NFL has changed their playoff overtime rules, meaning that both teams get an opportunity to possess the ball, regardless of the outcome of the first possession, whereas in the regular season, a touchdown wins the game, regardless of whether or not both teams have had a chance at offense. Tired from playing their hearts out in regulation-time, the teams began overtime. The 49ers were unable to capitalize on their first possession, only scoring a field goal, meaning that a touchdown for the Chiefs would automatically win the game for them, and for dedicated 49ers fans like myself, that tragic moment ended up happening when Patrick Mahomes threw a pass to a wide-open Mecole Hardman, winning the second Super Bowl in a row for the Chiefs. The families and friends of the players rushed the field for the celebration as confetti flooded the field, before the Chiefs players were presented with the Vince Lombardi trophy, marking their efforts all season to get to this point – the final score was 22-25 in favor of the Chiefs.
By Kristina Klauzinski ‘24, Sports Editor
