49ers know they may have fumbled best Super Bowl shot: ‘We had the team to do it’

Ralph Vacchiano

NFC East Reporter

LAS VEGAS — They have been here before, standing on the edge of greatness, but never this close, and never feeling quite like this. 

For four years the San Francisco 49ers had been building to one moment. And they felt like everything they wanted was right in their hands.

Instead, when it was over and the red and gold confetti started flying again, they were left with a familiar, sad feeling — only worse. This time they felt like they threw their best chance at a Super Bowl championship away.

“I don’t know what you can say after this one because we’ve been so close so many times,” said 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa. “There’s only so many more opportunities that we’re going to have.”

They know the reality, though, is that they may never get as close as they were Sunday night when they lost Super Bowl LVIII to the Kansas City Chiefs in the final seconds of overtime, 25-22. The 49ers had it from the start — or so they thought. San Francisco had the Chiefs where they wanted them twice at the end of the game. They led so close to the final seconds.

But they just kept letting Patrick Mahomes hang around and get another opportunity to do what he does so well.

That’s what bothered the 49ers most. It’s why it seemed to hurt them so much more than the Super Bowl they lost to Mahomes and the Chiefs four years ago, and way worse than their losses in the NFC Championship games in each of the last two years. Those were missed opportunities, too. But from their perspective, they had the Vince Lombardi trophy in their hands in this game.

They just couldn’t find a way to put it away.

“They gave us plenty of opportunities,” said tight end George Kittle. “We just didn’t take advantage of them.”

“We had the team to do it,” added quarterback Brock Purdy. “That’s what’s so tough about this.”

The 49ers were all able to cite a wild string of things that went wrong in this game, each bad break or…

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Publish date : 2024-02-12 06:34:09

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