New footage from the NFL showed the shock on Patrick Mahomes’ face when San Francisco 49ers captain Fred Warner called to have the ball first in overtime during the Super Bowl.
With a 19-all deadlock at the end of four quarters, the two met at centerfield for an overtime coin toss. Mere minutes later, the 49ers would learn how their decision opened the door for Mahomes to lead Kansas City to their second straight title.
Aside from his mixture of shock and confusion in his eyes, the footage from ‘Inside the NFL’ showed Mahomes’ interaction with his teammates after the coin toss. Mahomes jogged off the field as he yelled the decision to his teammates in disbelief.
‘They want it, they want the ball,’ Mahomes said as he approached the sideline. ‘They wanted it baby.’
‘We want them to have the ball,’ tight end Travis Kelce exclaimed. ‘They want it they can have it.’
The Chiefs defense held the 49ers to a field goal in overtime before Mahomes connected with Mecole Hardman to secure the 25-22 win with seconds to spare.
It was later revealed that 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and his players were unaware of the new overtime rules in the postseason. The new regulations gives each team a chance to score in sudden-death fashion.
The 49ers went into the extra period expecting that a touchdown would win them the game, hence deciding to receive first. ‘We want the ball Fred,’ Shanahan instructs Warner ahead of the toss.
San Francisco’s lack of awareness sunk in before overtime began as the footage shows fullback Kyle Juszczyk looking worried after learning about the rule-change.
‘Hey, even if we score a touchdown, they still get the ball,’ Juszczyk told his teammates. ‘I didn’t know that.’
‘None of us have a ton of experience with it, but we went through all the analytics and talked to those guys, and we just decided we wanted the ball third,’ Shanahan admitted postgame.
The win gave Kansas City their third title in five years and made them the first repeat champions since Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in 2003 and 2004.
