Who deserves more blame for losing the Super Bowl?

[TheAdultintheRoom]

No one. Two teams compete and one wins. I don't see a need for blame.

 

[denverpatsfan]

I blame Josh for crappy play calling. Should have beat the damn Chefs at home last year.

 

[Quest4SevenHomie]

I blame whomever allowed the 49ers defense to play prevent and let Sammy Watkins run a train all over Sherman. The 49ers defense let Damien Williams run up the side for a uncontested TD to take a 3-pt lead with 2:33 left in the 4th. Just so, so dumb. It was obvious they were targeting Sherman. He was just so bad and they exploited him.

Shanahan DEFINITELY has some blame. But it came down to situational football and for 49ers just let their foot of the gas thinking the Chiefs wouldn't be able to score.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

San Fran up 20-17... They run on first down for 5 yards then pass and pass... Mostert was getting yards... Why do you pass?... If you don't run then do misdirection handoff to samuel

 

[Patriot Missile]

I don’t blame the defense whatsoever. You had them down 20-10.

The playcalling was a mess in the 4th quarter. An absolute mess and JG didnt make the throws when Kyle put him in a position too.

8 in the box and you cant make the throw. Next play they blitz 6 and he could’nt find the open man. Even when they were down by 4 with a minute 30 left they treated it like a ****show. First play run, 12 yards. Then 4 straight incompletions. They could of chinked them out with their running backs on that drive when clearly they moved to pass protect but chose to throw 4 times!

They are equally to blame. 24 points should of been enough. 23 should of been enough for Pats even with the lame calls by the refs. Defenses did their job. Offenses tanked.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Shanahan for sure.

The Forty Niners are built on that cut and run scheme. When it’s working, you put your foot on the gas. With about 6:00 remaining up 20-17, I thought the Niners still had them and would likely run out the clock or kick another field goal with under a minute. Afterwards, Shanahan said he was trying to move the chains and not thinking about killing the clock. That’s fine, but when sticking to the run accomplishes both, why would you bail on it? The Chiefs ability to stop the run in the 4th quarter was similar to the ability of the 49ers to stop the pass. They had thrown all their tricks out there and the matchup was heavily in the 49ers favor. I never thought Shanahan blew SB51. Last night, however, he was the goat.

 

[IcyPatriot]

I think Andy Reid used the Belichick playbook on edge rushers.
Let them blowout and try to win game in 4th quarter ... and it worked.
Where was Bosa in 4th quarter? He played great when he had gas.

 

[Patriot Missile]

I think Andy Reid used the Belichick playbook on edge rushers.
Let them blowout and try to win game in 4th quarter ... and it worked.
Where was Bosa in 4th quarter? He played great when he had gas.

Bosa was busy being held the whole game. Every Time I saw him. Fisher should of thanked those refs after the game. Those first 3 quarters they were holding onto him for dear life and its Hard to imagine he looked disruptive being held but he did. Oh well, they blew it.

 

[Boomer B]

A mixture of Jimmy G and Shanahan. When the whole world knew the 49ers needed to kill the clock in the 4th qtr the Chiefs loaded the box. Jimmy G simply missed open receivers on consecutive drives late in the 4th qtr when he had his receivers beat man coverage. On the 3rd down when the 49ers were still leading he had a receiver crossing for a 1st down with separation and he threw it away. Then the next drive down by 4 he overthrew the long bomb by 5 yds. Those misses aren’t on Shanahan. But Shanahan should have ran the ball on 2nd down when they were clock killing. That was a mistake.

 

[AQPE]

Shanahan for sure in my book. Up 10 in Q4 with the ball you attack them physically and prioritize killing the clock. That was the time to unveil a wrinkle or two to keep running. Clearly he didn’t have them prepared for that scenario.

One thing that I thought about at that point was if you have to throw, that’s a good time to use your backs pulling their edge players out from the box. One or two broken tackles on a second or third down play would have busted KC IMHO.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Bosa was busy being held the whole game. Every Time I saw him. Fisher should of thanked those refs after the game. Those first 3 quarters they were holding onto him for dear life and its Hard to imagine he looked disruptive being held but he did. Oh well, they blew it.

There was a handle on the back of his jersey.

I already hate myself for this whiny, excuse-laden post and being “that guy” (and I feel like a caricature of a Pats hater), but here it goes...I can’t ignore what I’m seeing. I don’t consider the Chiefs a rival and like Reid and Mahomes. That said...

No one whines about it because the Patriots won, but go rewatch the 2018 AFCCG @ KC. Every time I watch it I am more amazed by the home cooking they had to overcome. In particular:

1. The absolutely horrendous pick play where Belichick smashes his tablet.
2. The mugging on the Dorsett touchdown before halftime (he caught it anyway)...however, it was almost as flag-able, as the Kelce Super Bowl PI. The defender didn’t turn around and ran into Dorsett before the ball got there. No flag.
3. Two absurd ticky tack penalties on JC Jackson, one which negated a Kelce turnover.
4. The constant, absurd mugging of Gronkowski, especially on the play where Berry flat out interfered with him and even Romo was like wtf?
5. Mahomes last pass in regulation was intentional grounding. He threw it away from the pocket and no one was in the area.

To show this isn’t a complete homer post, the refs did screw up one call in favor of the Pats:

1. It was the wrong call on Chris Jones for hitting Brady’s helmet. He didn’t. Very bad call.
2. They did get the all the replays correct. Hogan had one catch upheld and one overturned...Edelman did not touch the punt. Of course, those calls weren’t made by the on-field refs and instead from NY.
3. They did call Dee Ford offsides...of course, he was blatantly offsides.

I looked through about 5-6 game threads on some neutral team message boards. By and large they thought the reffing was a sham in favor of the Chiefs, despite hating the Patriots.

I don’t really believe in conspiracies, but combine that with the Chiefs-Pats regular season game this year (Kelce fumble that should have been a TD, Harry TD absurdly called oob) and the Super Bowl (have you ever seen blatant false starts, offsides, helmet to helmet on the QB missed??, blowing the whistle for “in the grasp”...lol)

Something to monitor....that’s all. I don’t believe in conspiracies, but this seems fishy. I’ve never complained about the Colts, Ravens, Broncos, Steelers, really any other team, even ones I really hate and typically shut this stuff down immediately. I figure every team gets some bad calls for and against them. But the Chiefs have been so many bad calls in their favor so consistently it raises eyebrows.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

@Ice_Ice_Brady Why would the NFL risk the catastrophe that would come from if they really were messing with games for a small-market hicksville like KC?

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

@Ice_Ice_Brady Why would the NFL risk the catastrophe that would come from if they really were messing with games for a small-market hicksville like KC?

I feel dirty for continuing with this, seriously, because I get how it comes across especially being a Pats fan, but since you asked....will tell you because I felt this way in early 2018 and posted about it (though wasn’t at that point noticing a huge number of calls in the Chiefs favor.)

The Chiefs are a lot like the NFL version of the Warriors. They are fun to watch, explosive, and most importantly led by one of the most marketable athletes possible. In addition to his other worldly talent, Patrick Mahomes looks like Steph Curry...he hits all the demographics for mass popularity. I hope this isn’t coming across as racist. It’s a marketing fact that his heritage, like Steph, reaches every demographic possible, and the NBA hit sky high with Steph. It’s not a stretch to say the NFL would likely love to see him as the new face of the league. Honestly, so would I. The guy is incredible and fun as heck to watch; he does things we’ve never seen QBs do and is likeable. I just hope there isn’t some subconscious bias from the officials in also rooting for the guy. KC may be small market, but this will be heck of a bandwagon they’ll get, and it will be must-see TV.

Curious, do you disagree with my take? Am I biased in thinking I’m seeing this. I’ve really never been someone to complain about the refs and find it pathetic, but I also feel like you need to trust your own eyes too.

 

[TBR]

There was a handle on the back of his jersey.

I already hate myself for this whiny, excuse-laden post and being “that guy” (and I feel like a caricature of a Pats hater), but here it goes...I can’t ignore what I’m seeing. I don’t consider the Chiefs a rival and like Reid and Mahomes. That said...

No one whines about it because the Patriots won, but go rewatch the 2018 AFCCG @ KC. Every time I watch it I am more amazed by the home cooking they had to overcome. In particular:

1. The absolutely horrendous pick play where Belichick smashes his tablet.
2. The mugging on the Dorsett touchdown before halftime (he caught it anyway)...however, it was almost as flag-able, as the Kelce Super Bowl PI. The defender didn’t turn around and ran into Dorsett before the ball got there. No flag.
3. Two absurd ticky tack penalties on JC Jackson, one which negated a Kelce turnover.
4. The constant, absurd mugging of Gronkowski, especially on the play where Berry flat out interfered with him and even Romo was like wtf?
5. Mahomes last pass in regulation was intentional grounding. He threw it away from the pocket and no one was in the area.

To show this isn’t a complete homer post, the refs did screw up one call in favor of the Pats:

1. It was the wrong call on Chris Jones for hitting Brady’s helmet. He didn’t. Very bad call.
2. They did get the all the replays correct. Hogan had one catch upheld and one overturned...Edelman did not touch the punt. Of course, those calls weren’t made by the on-field refs and instead from NY.
3. They did call Dee Ford offsides...of course, he was blatantly offsides.

I looked through about 5-6 game threads on some neutral team message boards. By and large they thought the reffing was a sham in favor of the Chiefs, despite hating the Patriots.

I don’t really believe in conspiracies, but combine that with the Chiefs-Pats regular season game this year (Kelce fumble that should have been a TD, Harry TD absurdly called oob) and the Super Bowl (have you ever seen blatant false starts, offsides, helmet to helmet on the QB missed??, blowing the whistle for “in the grasp”...lol)

Something to monitor....that’s all. I don’t believe in conspiracies, but this seems fishy. I’ve never complained about the Colts, Ravens, Broncos, Steelers, really any other team, even ones I really hate and typically shut this stuff down immediately. I figure every team gets some bad calls for and against them. But the Chiefs have been so many bad calls in their favor so consistently it raises eyebrows.

Indeed, it was a bad call on Chris Jones, but it made up for the DPI/hold on Edelman on the exact same play (uncalled).

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

It wasn't the right call on Chris Jones, but it made up for the DPI/hold on Edelman on the exact same play (uncalled).

That’s right...got it neutralized anyway.

So am I a crazy, Chiefs hating conspiracist here? Or have others noticed an inordinate amount of calls for KC since Mahomes became QB? Obviously they are a great team and no denying that.

 

[TBR]

So am I a crazy, Chiefs hating conspiracist here? Or have others noticed an inordinate amount of calls for KC since Mahomes became QB?

There's even some host on CBS Sports Radio who's been going off on the calls favoring KC, Mahomes' fraudulent MVP award (compared it to Peyton's vs the Bears), etc. -- It's not coming across as whiny or hateful though. He lays everything out very reasonably, as you have.

No idea who the host's name is.. I just left the TV on earlier and it's playing in the background of a sports info channel.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

How could you really miss this textbook, obvious hold on Bosa that’s immediately in front of Mahomes?



Then on the game winning score, notice the LOS is the five yard line, which means Kelce can pick legally for one yard (four yard line). He picks Sherman all the way down close to the goal line, which is why Sherman is late on the tackle. The angle is tough to see here, but you can clearly see Sherman shedding the block at the end...look how his arms go up. How is that not OPI there?

 

[Guts]

How could you really miss this textbook, obvious hold on Bosa that’s immediately in front of Mahomes?

How is Tyreke so wide open though...I read somewhere that they used Cover 3 on that play when in reality the right coverage there should've been Cover 2

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

How is Tyreke so wide open though...I read somewhere that they used Cover 3 on that play when in reality the right coverage there should've been Cover 2

Looked like broken coverage...safety thought Hill was breaking in and he broke out. But that is all moot if that call is made, which was far from a coin flip call. Blatant and obvious holding.

 

[supafly]

Florio wrote an article about the no-call personal foul penalty on the sidelines against JG with about 9:30 left in the game. If they make that call, SF gets a fresh set of downs and eats up another few minutes. I don’t know how bad it is because FOX never bothered to show the replay, but I thought that it was a penalty in real time.