LAS VEGAS — Brock Purdy knows exactly what went wrong after the 49ers lost to the Chiefs 25-22 in overtime at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday night in the 2024 Super Bowl. The disgusted look on his face told of his high level of skill. Hurt.
After the 49ers won the coin toss and took the first possession of overtime, Purdy drove the offense to the Kansas City 9-yard line for a third-and-four.
Had they scored a touchdown, they would have almost won the game.
He was flushed out of the pocket by the Kansas City defense, specifically defensive end Chris Jones, and delivered the ball to receiver Jauan Jennings for a TD, but the ball didn’t get there.
Fourth down, the 49ers did what they had to do there. It kicked the winning field goal and hoped the defense would keep the Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes out of the end zone.
Of course, they couldn’t do that, and Mahomes won the game with a pass to Mecole Hardman with three seconds left in OT.
Purdy played well.
He lasted more than 24 years and started 26 games in the NFL.
And that was almost enough.
Except Mahomes was on the other side of the field.
The 49ers’ second-year quarterback, who played at an MVP level during the regular season, was likely one or two steps away from being named Super Bowl MVP.
He finished 23 of 38 for 255 yards with a TD.
However, 1 more TD was needed.
“They brought zero [coverage] And I tried to get the ball there [Jennings]” Purdy said. “That’s what hurts me. We were going to make a field goal, but obviously the offense was really good and Mahomes was really good. We gave them an opportunity to go down the field and win the game with a touchdown. You don’t want to.
“Then, when I couldn’t connect, [Jennings], it hurt. ”
Purdy took this loss harshly and blamed himself.
He, too, praised Kansas City’s defense, which was stifled, especially on first and second downs.
“Their defense was tough. First down and second down was tough,” Purdy said. “I think it was around the third year.” [a lot]. We have to work harder on first down and second down. I feel like they were persistent overall and played a lot of man coverage, which was a challenge.
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“But it hurts that our defense gave us as many stops as they did and we couldn’t do anything with those chances.”
Purdy had talked in the week leading up to the game about the importance of scoring a touchdown rather than a field goal in this game because of how dangerous Mahomes is.
“You have a good one [offense] For us, like what the Chiefs are doing, like what Mahomes can do, it’s like, “Okay, we’ve got to score a touchdown.” We had the opportunity to do so, but we shot ourselves in the foot. We’ve got to do a better job of leading our players and handling things in the huddle. ”
The 49ers suffered in the second half as their offense got off to a slow start, punting on their first three possessions.
“I’m still trying to figure it out, I’m not going to lie,” Purdy said of the struggle.
San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan had nothing but praise for his young quarterback after the game.
“I’m very proud of Brock’s play all year,” Shanahan said. “I think Brock did a good job. He gave us a chance to win.”
