The 49ers fell short of winning their sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy after failing to capitalize on a 10-point first-half lead over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII, ultimately losing 25-22 in overtime at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
After a sensational double-pass featuring Brock Purdy, Jauan Jennings and Christian McCaffrey gave San Francisco a 10-0 lead with 4:23 left in the second quarter, the 49ers failed to put away the then-struggling Chiefs.
In talking to reporters following San Francisco’s third Super Bowl defeat in franchise history, Purdy took responsibility for the 49ers' struggle to keep their foot on the gas pedal for the rest of the game, highlighting the team’s missed opportunities.
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“When you have a good offense like the Chiefs do, and [know] what Mahomes can do, for us it’s like, ‘Alright, we have to score touchdowns,'" Purdy said after San Francisco's loss to Kansas City. "We had opportunities to do that, I think. We shot ourselves in the foot with penalties and operations, and stuff. I got to be better in terms of leading the guys and how I handle things in the huddle, and telling them what to expect -- stuff like that. At the end of the day, we have the team [and] the offense to score touchdowns and I think I failed to put our team in position to do that.”
Purdy finished the game 23-for-38 with 255 yards and a passing touchdown. The Iowa State product didn’t have his best game, but he was not a mess. As expected, Purdy took responsibility when the lights were brightest -- but he also acknowledged San Francisco's overall collapse.
“The first thing that comes to mind is: When you have an opportunity like we did to really put some points up on them and take it -- you got to take it, man,” Purdy added postgame. “It’s the Super Bowl, a good team in the Chiefs on the other side. We had opportunities to [extend the lead] and we all fell short of it. I think that’s what eats at me. I feel like we could’ve, sort of- we had opportunities, man, to sort of lap them and get up on them, and we failed to do that."
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While the second-year quarterback was not electric, San Francisco did itself no favors. The 49ers lost a McCaffrey fumble on their opening drive, a fumbled punt return late in the third quarter and had six penalties totaling 60 negative yards.
And when in the red zone in overtime, the 49ers had to settle for a third Moody field goal, which was not enough to keep the game alive against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
As the confetti rained down on Allegiant Stadium for the now two-time defending champion Chiefs, Purdy and the 49ers must regroup and prepare for the 2024 NFL season.
Purdy, who will be entering his third season, still has a lot of football to play.
"So, moving forward with my career, if you get blessed enough to be in this kind of position again, I think you have to understand [extending leads],” Purdy said postgame. “And I learned the hard way.”
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