NFL
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@KiwiMurph said in NFL:
@barbarian said in NFL:
It should have been 20+. Niners were all over them but just couldn't make the big plays they needed.
Don't forget Shanahan abandoning the run in the 3rd quarter.
The guy outsmarts himself.
True, but I don't think that's unforgiveable. Chiefs clearly decided to put numbers into stopping the run.
Deebo was playing on one leg, the Greenlaw injury was a hammer blow... they probably could have found a way to involve Kittle a bit more but they came within a bees of winning the Superbowl, so it's hard to be too critical...
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@barbarian said in NFL:
True, but I don't think that's unforgiveable. Chiefs clearly decided to put numbers into stopping the run.
So the alternative is to just fail for about 3 drives in a row by not running the ball?
The whole 49ers offense revolves around the run. McCaffrey is one of the top 3 best players in the League and Shanahan just abandoned him for nearly a whole quarter - they almost went the whole 3rd quarter without getting a first down. Which also puts pressure on the defense as they had to keep rolling out there.
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@KiwiMurph said in NFL:
@barbarian said in NFL:
True, but I don't think that's unforgiveable. Chiefs clearly decided to put numbers into stopping the run.
So the alternative is to just fail for about 3 drives in a row by not running the ball?
The whole 49ers offense revolves around the run. McCaffrey is one of the top 3 best players in the League and Shanahan just abandoned him for nearly a whole quarter - they almost went the whole 3rd quarter without getting a first down. Which also puts pressure on the defense as they had to keep rolling out there.
I think that was situational rather than tactical. The first two drives they got into a hole. The first drive it's an incomplete pass and a false start to be 2 and 15. The second chiefs get pressure early and the checkdown is caught deep behind the line of scrimmage so they're then at 2 and 18. The third drive they come up and try to run but the chiefs stuff it at the line of scrimmage so they're at 2 and 10 with the run just having failed.
The fourth drive the first pass is incomplete which means at 2 and 10 dialling up a run for McCaffrey is a more realistic option.
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3 boring quarters of defenses on top of unimaginative offence.
The whole game came alive 9n that punt turnover because the Chiefs score, and thr niners had to play.
4th quarter was awesome, and so was OT.McCaffery was enormous in a losing effort
But Mahomes is a deadset freak and is the best player I have ever seen. He won that game. He threw the ball. He made big runs when needed. He did it. Off shit snap after shit snap. Phenom
You're not supposed to win this often in this league
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A captivating game more-so for the contest than the exciting offence.
KC kept in the game by unlikely suspects, their special teams blocking the extra point and their field kicker kicking two record breaking distance wise field goals kept them in the game. The wide receiver who got the touchdown was his first TD of the season
Feel sorry for San Fran, they really did enough to win, one freak special teams play that cost them the extra point is a tough way to lose, literally lost by a fingertip.
And how about that poor guy who got a game ending injury just running onto the field? Biggest game of his life ended like that? How unlucky.
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@Windows97 said in NFL:
Feel sorry for San Fran, they really did enough to win, one freak special teams play that cost them the extra point is a tough way to lose, literally lost by a fingertip.
I'm not sure i agree with this statement. Ignoring the fact that KC made a great play, i am not backing against Mahomes scoring a TD on that last drive if he doesn't have the FG safety net.
Nothing in the game, the Niners made the better start but by the end of the first half KC was starting to even the stats as their defence held SF. The 3rd quarter was a 3-and-out grind both ways until that boot woke both teams up. That was the defining play.
NFL football is a funny game, every single play matters, and entire seasons can be wrecked by just a couple of missed opportunities.
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@Windows97 said in NFL:
Feel sorry for San Fran, they really did enough to win
The defense did enough to win. They forced 2 turnovers and the only touchdown they conceded in regulation was when Chiefs were gifted field position due to the punt return error.
The offense didn't do enough to win and ultimately that falls to Shanahan. Time and again his offense fails in big games.
49ers under Shanahan have had questionable special teams too - ultimately that falls on him.
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@mariner4life said in NFL:
3 boring quarters of defenses on top of unimaginative offence.
The whole game came alive 9n that punt turnover because the Chiefs score, and thr niners had to play.
4th quarter was awesome, and so was OT.I enjoyed it the whole way through. As someone said, it was the contest - very good defences stepping up. I like a game like that.
KC just hang in there. Chris Jones was immense - forced Purdy into some slightly hurried throws. Purdy was exceptional, and often had so much time. Mahomes kept getting into 2nd and 3rd and long situations - just so hard to get out of them agianst a strong defence.
Shout out for the refs. They nailed it - not even a booth review or challenge flag thrown - there weren't any howlers, and the non-calls all seemed reasonable.
KC tried to implode; holding in OT to stop the 49ers drive on 3rd down was horrific.
All in all, really fun. Enjoyed it.
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@KiwiMurph said in NFL:
@Windows97 said in NFL:
Feel sorry for San Fran, they really did enough to win
The defense did enough to win. They forced 2 turnovers and the only touchdown they conceded in regulation was when Chiefs were gifted field position due to the punt return error.
The offense didn't do enough to win and ultimately that falls to Shanahan. Time and again his offense fails in big games.
49ers under Shanahan have had questionable special teams too - ultimately that falls on him.
Just weren't bold enough
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Shanahan is still one of the best coaches in the league, probably the best current coach not to win a SB (Reid can sympathise). Hopefully he will have a robust debrief about what went wrong, and come back better. But he takes us deep into the playoffs most years, we are better with him than not
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Thinking more about the Superbowl. How did the Chiefs actually win? On paper SF had a clearly superior team. Loaded offence - best RB in the league, two top 20 WRs, top five TE, best FB, and a good QB who played pretty well. Defence also full of studs. Meanwhile the Chiefs had Mahomes, a cast of also-ran RBs and WRs, great TE but not much more. A good defence, sure.
And if you look at Mahomes performance, he didn't do anything amazing. That's his brilliance, very much like Brady. There was one deep throw but other than that he took what was given to him. But it wasn't like watching peak Lamar or peak Josh Allen where you think 'what can't this guy do?'.
That's why it's so remeniscent of the Brady/BB Pats. You spend all season frothing about this team or that, but they lurk and lurk and then you look up and it's the third quarter of the Superbowl and they are somehow tied with a chance to win. And you just know they will.
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There has been plenty of talk about what the 49ers should have done in OT. I can understand receiving after winning the toss (their defense was on the field at the end of regulation) but you really need a TD with the new rules, especially given the distance that both kickers were successful with FGs.
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Supposedly their theory was that they'd get the first crack at sudden death. That kind of makes sense.
Under the old/regular season rules you pretty much always want the ball first since a TD is a win, whereas the alternative theory with the new rules is that you want to go second so you know exactly what you need.
I actually think that the right strategy to defer and go for the onside kick. The rules say that both teams get 'an opportunity to posses the ball', which includes a kick off. So if you manage to regain then a field goal wins (and you're only a few yards short of long field goal range), and if you don't get it back you've only concede about 25 or so yards of field possession, and even if they score the TD you still get another chance (since the onside kick isn't considered an opportunity to possess for the kicking team). Onside kick success rates keep dropping though so unless there are some changes to make it a bit easier teams will see it as too big a risk.
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That KC offence offered decent protection, a not peak Kelce, and nothing else. Average running back, below average receivers who can't get separation and can't friggen catch. Except for one throw, Mahomes took what he could, battled his way through the game, and then picked the tired Niners apart. Throw in a couple of key runs at key times, and it was as Brady as you can get. This wasn't no-look, side-arm, trick play Mahomes, this was "do what you have to in order to win" Mahomes.
That KC defence is a hell of a unit though. Jones is elite. They have very very good corners, and the whole unit is fucking fast. And they work so well as a team.
