Coping With Loss
Before any of you accuse me of being a swiftie I’ll have you know I employed the assistance of one to name more than one song at which point she sent me about 10 sequential screenshots of a Taylor playlist she had for this exact purpose. I don’t know if any of those songs besides Shake it off even fit the theme, I selected them based on the name suiting the joke.
Is it strange that we’ve had two rematch Super Bowls about a decade apart now? It feels strange. The 2007 & 2011 Giants/Patriots and now the 2019 & 2023 49ers/Chiefs Super Bowls. Each 4 years apart featuring the best QB in the league versus a guy who is simultaneously underrated and overrated. Though the 49ers at least started two different versions of that guy. There aren’t many other similarities between the two outside the fact that the rematch ended the same way as the first game but it is still kinda strange. Well, all 4 games also featured a late comeback to win it too, I guess.
That was a strange Super Bowl because it started out so slow and unwatchable and I was worried we had another Rams/Pats on our hands. By the end we had a great game. Probably will go down as the longest Super Bowl in history since it was a whole 5 quarters. It didn’t have the pizazz of many others though. Every game has those few true defining moments, the big play that will go down in our collective memories as the play that defined the game. The last matchup had the bomb to Tyreek, the “Wasp” play. Maybe also the tragic Jimmy G miss of the open 49er in the endzone. This one…what play from this game will go down as the play? The blocked extra point is my preference seeing as how it changed the entire dynamic of the game. The muffed punt? One of the blitzes that stuffed Brock Purdy in the redzone? Those probably should be considering how the Chiefs defense won this game, but I don’t know if that’s how this one will go down.
Where do you personally rank this one? I feel like I should go through every Super Bowl and make a tier list. I’d probably stick this one in B or low A tier. Great game, lacking the final bit of oomph to really send it over the top.
Bills fans: Second time? *Nodding*
I think the great play for this gamight be be Mahomes’ bootleg on 4th down in OT. Insane amount of balls needed for that.
The great play from this game is going to be the play that put the Niners up 10-0, even if they eventually did lose the game.
It was bad football, but overtime was scary.
High B/Low A feels like a good ranking. I’m one of those people that doesn’t mind seeing a defensive slugfest…..as long as there’s meaningful, impactful TOs to make it interesting. Nobody wants to watch 3&Out on repeat, but big-yardage-play-promptly-followed-by-boneheaded-fumble? I can dig that. I actually felt like watching a really good soccer game: lots of close calls, just enough scoring to keep pressure on the other team, and plenty of tension throughout.
The game was flavored more with defensive excellence than offensive incompetence, which I think is actually pretty fun to watch. Although there were a few drives that heavily featured Purdy throwing the ball to his Samuel/Aiyuk’s ankles….not the greatest.
It’s on my list of SBs that I won’t watch again unless I feel like torturing myself. The sad fact is, I don’t think I’ll ever see my beloved 49ers win another SB. Over these last 30 years it’s become clear that the football gods have turned against the 49ers for some unknown reason. The football gods are cruel, because they always allow the 49ers to get oh so close to the Lombardi, only to snatch it away at the last moment. Muffed punts, blocked kicks, defensive collapses, poor play calling, I’ve seen so much of it over the years, and somehow this game managed to incorporate every single PTSD trigger for 49ers fans. It’s made worse knowing that the haters will spend the entire offseason smugly yucking it up about how Shanahan is a choke artist, how Brock Purdy is actually garbage, and how the Cowboys have somehow been better for the last 30 years because they won a SB more recently despite being one and done in the playoffs virtually every year they make it to the postseason.
And you might be asking “How can you complain when you’ve won 5 SBs already? Some teams have none!” 30 years is a LONG time. I am fortunate, I was 12 years old when Steve Young and Jerry Rice eviscerated the Chargers. I was old enough to remember that game, and the two SB wins that came before it. But that feels like a lifetime ago, and for some people that’s more than a lifetime. My youngest brothers weren’t even alive in 1995, and now they’re grown with kids of their own. One of them became a Seahawks fan, so he’s dead to me, but the other has been waiting his entire life to see the 49ers win again. All he knows is futility and heartbreak.
I can relate to this a ton. I am a huge Steve Young fan and the only SB win I remember was 29, and I was too young to appreciate how infrequent SB wins are.
The stretch from 2011-2023 may be the most successful team not to win a SB. 7 NFCG appearances and 3 SB berths with no rings. I know they’re two different coaches but that’s like the 00’s Eagles followed by the 90’s Bills in one team.
Don’t lose hope yet, the 49ers Super Bowl window is still open, and as long as they have Kyle Shanahan they will be able to win it it all despite his choking label.
Tis true. A lot of Shanahan haters don’t seem to remember Dennis Erickson… or Chip Kelly *shutters*
Let niners fans play Getting Over It so they get pissed off about an entirely different (video) game
I remember how we were being told to “get over it!” after that game in 2003.
You know the one.
Overall I’d say it was a pretty meh defensive struggle that absolutely took off in the 4th quarter and OT. I don’t think this game will be remembered for any single play, but just the certification of Kansas City as the newest NFL Dynasty, sort of like how Super Bowl 39 isn’t really remembered for any iconic play.
I feel like the final drive would be more impactful if it wasn’t Mahomes pulling it off, weirdly enough. He’s sort of reached Brady-levels of inevitable where he makes game winning drives look absurdly easy. I’m sure KC fans enjoyed every minute of it, though.
you could have made up Swift song titles and I’d have never known, ha!
I actually kinda like one of her songs, “Anti-Hero”
as for rating this year’s game, I can’t, it put me to sleep before halftime so I missed the majority of it
It’s gonna be forgotten, but Butker hitting a SUPER BOWL RECORD 57 yard FG…. OFF THE 49ers FINGERS was remarkable and isn’t being talked about enough
By all rights that should’ve been blocked
Instead he hammered it through and set a record that might stand for a while.
Again– a 57 yarder– that blasted off/through the defense’s fingers. WHAT!!! Without being touched that kick probably would’ve been good from 70. Just wild
I don’t know where it ranks compared directly to other ones – I don’t have time or energy (or motivation) to do that. I would, however, probably put it in low-mid B category. Yes, there was some good defense, but there was also just a whole lot of stupid mistakes and ugly play calls. Even the 49ers first TD wasn’t so much a “wow, that was really cool”, as it was a “how the hell did that stupid thing even remotely work, much less turn into a score?”
The 4Q and OT saved it from being a low-C game, but still, my family turned it off after the afore-mentioned TD, watched “The LEGO Movie” instead, and *still* had time to turn it back on for the end of the game without feeling like we missed much.
I found it to be overall a very entertaining game, though not “exciting”. Good defensive play, not egregious penalties that decided the outcome, nice mix of mistakes and chaos from both teams, and an OT victory. But yeah, no crazy “it” plays.
On another note, I stayed home with the family, and due to having little kids to feed and put to bed at the normal Sunday night schedule, had to pause the game frequently for longer stretches. That actually made the game more enjoyable in the end. I skipped through commercials and the boring halftime analysis. Just solid football and an Usher halftime show. Really kept the excitement going.
Niners fan so biased in several directions. Trying to look at it as a neutral fan, I’d give it a B. Close game that could’ve gone either way, but didn’t really get entertaining until late in the 3rd. I agree with Stunkei’s comment above that the final drive would’ve been more impactful if it wasn’t Mahomes. With Mahomes/KC, the scoring feels inevitable so there’s less drama on the final drive.
Overtime and the blocked FG were good. I enjoyed seeing the defenses contain the potent offenses, but this game had too many mistakes and was pretty boring for most of it. And like Dave mentioned, no standout plays. In 10-20 years this will be a pretty forgettable Superbowl.
I feel like it will be up there with Carolina-New England as the most underrated Super Bowls. Honestly, any Super Bowl that goes into Overtime likely will not be forgotten.
“… up there with Carolina-New England as the most underrated Super Bowls …’
Sorry but Janet Jackson’s nipple reveal was a lot more memorable than Usher’s
I’m just happy “Back to December” got some love. My favorite Taylor Swift song. Also, you raise the question, what qualifies as a Swiftie? I would call myself more of a casual fan of hers than die-hard listening to all albums on repeat and shelling out a mortgage payment to see her in concert. Does that still count?