Grading the San Francisco 49ers position by position following their 25-22 overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
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00:00 The 49ers just lost 25-22 in overtime to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII.
00:07 Here are the 49ers grades for this performance.
00:10 Brock Purdy
00:12 B. He managed the game like the game manager he is. He didn't take unnecessary risks or turn the
00:21 ball over. Instead, he played conservatively and tried to let the defense win the game.
00:25 His receivers struggled to get open, and to Purdy's credit he didn't force many passes into
00:29 tight windows. But he also didn't play well enough to win. And despite having Christian McCaffrey,
00:35 the 49ers scored just 19 points in regulation in 22 total, as opposed to four years ago,
00:41 when they had Jimmy Garoppolo and scored 20 points in the Super Bowl against the Chiefs.
00:44 Purdy clearly is a better quarterback than Garoppolo, and yet the offense didn't play
00:49 better this time around. Purdy still needs to prove that he's a franchise quarterback,
00:53 because he didn't play like one tonight. He played like a solid quarterback who isn't quite
00:58 good enough to win the big one. Running backs
01:01 B+ Christian McCaffrey gained 160 yards from scrimmage and scored a touchdown,
01:07 but also fumbled on the first drive of the game when the offense was in field goal range.
01:10 A mistake like that is critical in a three-point loss.
01:13 Wide receivers
01:15 B. If the 49ers had won, Jawan Jennings would have been the Super Bowl MVP.
01:22 He had 42 receiving yards, a touchdown catch, and a touchdown pass to McCaffrey.
01:26 Jennings is the 49ers' most underrated player, and he'll be a restricted free agent this offseason,
01:32 which means the Niners could lose him. And they can't afford that, because Brendan Ayuk
01:36 was decidedly mediocre in this game. Three catches for 49 yards and no touchdowns.
01:41 While Debo Samuel was not good. Three catches for 33 yards on a whopping 11 targets.
01:48 Purdy's numbers would have been so much better had he simply never thrown a pass to Samuel,
01:53 who just couldn't get open. Tight ends
01:55 C- The run game struggled and George Kittle couldn't get open. He finished the game with
02:01 two catches for four yards, although one of his grabs converted a fourth down, which was clutch.
02:06 Offensive linemen
02:07 C- They committed penalties, gave up lots of pressure, and paved the way for the offense
02:14 to gain just 3.5 yards per carry on the ground. Even Trent Williams got pancaked. The Niners need
02:20 to invest in this position this offseason because it's not a Super Bowl-caliber offensive line.
02:24 Defensive linemen
02:25 A- Give these guys credit. They played extremely hard for four quarters. Even Chase Young played
02:32 his heart out. Then they ran out of gas in overtime and gave up some long runs to Patrick
02:36 Mahomes. Linebackers
02:39 A- Fred Warner recorded a team-high 13 tackles in the Niners' shutdown in the Chiefs' run game
02:44 despite Drake Greenlaw leaving the game early with a torn Achilles. Defensive backs
02:50 C- Dyer Brown intercepted Patrick Mahomes, but the secondary as a whole gave up two touchdown
02:56 catches to wide-open receivers. The second one ended the Super Bowl. It was a pass to Mikko
03:02 Hardman. The Niners weren't prepared for that play, which the Chiefs called last year for a
03:06 touchdown in their Super Bowl victory over the Eagles. You'd think Steve Wilkes would have
03:10 prepared his players for that play, but he didn't. More on Wilkes in a minute. Special teams
03:16 D- Ray "Ray" McLeod muffed a punt near the 49ers end zone and the Chiefs recovered it and scored
03:23 a touchdown a few plays later, which means McLeod is as responsible as anyone for this loss.
03:28 Jake Moody made a 53-yard field goal and a 55-yard field goal, but also missed an extra point.
03:34 Had he made it, the Chiefs wouldn't have been able to tie the game with a field goal at the
03:38 end of regulation because they would have been trailing by four points. Instead,
03:42 they were trailing by three. Coaches C- Steve Wilkes outcoached Andy Reid for darn near four
03:50 quarters, which is extremely impressive. Wilkes shut down the Chiefs' run game and had his
03:55 defensive line dialed in and playing hard as opposed to a couple of weeks ago in the NFC
03:58 Championship game. But in overtime, Wilkes had no answers for the zone read or the game-winning
04:04 touchdown pass, which the Chiefs used last year in the Super Bowl as well. The Niners simply
04:09 weren't prepared for those plays and that's on Wilkes. But he was much better than the head
04:13 coach, Kyle Shanahan, who lost his third Super Bowl while leading by 10 points. At halftime,
04:20 the Niners were winning 10 to 3. Then in the third quarter, Shanahan called 11 passes and 3 runs.
04:26 The Niners scored zero points, gave up the lead, and that was the difference in the game.
04:32 Once again, Shanahan forgot about his rushing attack in the most critical moment of the season
04:37 and his offense simply wasn't good most of the game. That's on him. He got outcoached by Steve
04:44 Spagnuolo, whom no one considers a genius. Maybe people should stop calling Shanahan a genius
04:52 until he actually wins a Super Bowl. Because right now, he's a genius at finding ways to
04:58 lose the biggest game of the season. That's his coaching legacy.