Super Bowl 2024: San Francisco 49ers slammed as coin toss decision backfires in last-gasp defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs

The San Francisco 49ers suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl on Sunday night after a daring coin-toss strategy haunted them in overtime.

Kansas City became the first team to retain the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Las Vegas for nearly two decades, where they prevailed thanks to Mecole Hardman Jr.’s game-winning touchdown. in the final three seconds of overtime.

It was a devastating outcome for the 49ers, whose bid to win their first Super Bowl in 29 years was taken away from them immediately after their deaths.

However, many were quick to point out that San Francisco had brought the pain of overtime on itself by choosing to get the ball first in overtime.

After winning the coin toss, the Niners opted to play offense first, despite new overtime rules that ensured both teams received at least one possession each.

The San Francisco 49ers suffered a painful defeat in extra time of the Super Bowl on Sunday

The Kansas City Chiefs became the first team to keep the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Las Vegas for nearly two decades

The 49ers’ bold strategy to get the ball first in overtime after winning the coin toss backfired

After kicking a field goal they were undone when Mecole Hardman Jnr scored the winning touchdown for the Chiefs

That meant the Chiefs would have always gone into their drives and known exactly what was needed to prevail, giving them a significant advantage in the extra-time period.

And when the Niners scored a game-tying field goal, the Chiefs answered with the winning touchdown, sealing a 25-22 victory for the reigning champions.

San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed after the game that the decision was made with a potential third possession in mind, which would have given them a chance to end the game themselves.

“None of us have much experience with it,” Shanahan admitted. ‘We went through all the analyzes and talked to those guys. We decided it would be better to get the ball third because if both teams were evenly matched and scored, we wanted to be the ones with a chance to win the ball.”

But unfortunately for Shanahan and the 49ers, Hardman Jnr’s touchdown meant the third possession never materialized as their bold strategy backfired spectacularly.

And fans were stunned by the action on social media, questioning Shanahan and San Francisco’s thinking leading up to the overtime.

“I still don’t understand why the 49ers would delay after winning the overtime coin toss,” one person wrote. “It’s a clear advantage to possess the ball second, and it clearly had an impact on the game, with SF settling for a field goal.”

Another said, “49ers not deferring after winning the coin toss was a huge blunder.”

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed they took the ball first with a potential third possession in mind

But fans were highly critical of the decision to flip the coin after San Francisco fell to defeat

“I still don’t understand why you would get the ball first in the new OT rules,” said a third. “People say the 49ers defense was tired. After the FG and the toss they had time to rest. If they are still tired, I would call a timeout.

“I think knowing what you need in a situation like that is so valuable.”

A fourth statement: ‘According to the overtime rules, the winning toss team should never want to be the first to have the ball, the first team with the ball must play with the disadvantage of not knowing what they need to win the game.

“It was a mistake that the 49ers won the coin toss and didn’t give KC the ball first.”

While one simply wrote, “49ers lost that game as soon as they won the OT coin toss and chose to get the ball first.”