On the shuttle to Allegiant Stadium before Monday’s Super Bowl LVIII Opening Night, a few Kansas City based media members discussed preparing for the long week awaiting them. The conversation’s tone was more mundane than enthusiastic.
In their defense, this is the fourth time in five seasons covering the Kansas City Chiefs in the Big Game. The Chiefs won two of the first three attempts. One more would be the organization’s third title in five years.
The novelty of leaving their homes and families to see the team have a chance at lifting the Lombardi Trophy, again, had clearly worn off.
The Kansas City media weren’t the only ones weary of traveling across the country to attend the kickoff of Super Bowl week in Las Vegas. The mostly filled lower bowl of Allegiant stadium was dominated by San Francisco 49er fans.
When Chiefs players such as Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce took center stage, a chorus of jeers rained down onto the field. The San Francisco fans booed, drowning out the cheers from the Chiefs faithful.
Their volume reached an even higher decibel and opposite attitude when Niners players took their turn in the spotlight. Then Niners quarterback Brock Purdy emerged on stage.
“Pur-dy! Pur-dy!,” fans chanted.
This was just night one. There’s five more before Sunday’s game. But if you believe in first impressions, Super Bowl LVIII just means more to the Niners.
San Francisco is expected to have the same home field advantage on game day. According to early reports, 26 percent of tickets sold were from California. Tickets purchased from Kansas and Missouri trail behind at 7 percent.
The discrepancy could simply be a product of geography. The Bay Area is a much shorter flight to Vegas than Kansas City. Or there’s more to it.
The Niners haven’t won a title since the 1994 season. While Chiefs fans last witnessed the franchise’s second Super Bowl victory less than a calendar year ago. And with Mahomes under contract through 2031, there’s an expectation of more.
Along with their fans, Niners players have experienced their fair share of pain.
Fullback Kyle Juszczyk is in his 11th NFL season after being drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in 2013. He was selected just a few months after the Ravens defeated San Francisco 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII. Although he played for the reigning Super Bowl champs as a rookie, Juszczyk hasn’t hoisted the Lombardi trophy himself.
The Harvard graduate came close in 2020, his third season with San Francisco, but the Niners fell short, 31-20, against the same Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
“That was one of the toughest moments in my life as a professional,” Juszczyk said. “To make it that far and to come up short, you know, up 10 with six minutes to go, it felt like we really let that one get away and it hurt for a really long time. But I do think that with time that hurt goes away, and you start to heal from it, learn from and grow from it. And definitely see it as motivation.”
The Super Bowl defeat still drives today’s Niners players. It doesn’t matter that it was four years ago, or that only a handful of players from that team remain on the current roster. Because the sting of that loss never left the facility.
“A lot of the core guys, we still feel that,” Juszczyk said. “It’s crazy. For only eight guys on the team or nine guys, whatever it is, you still feel that in the locker room – that we have played in that previous game.”
The rematch four years later is an opportunity at redemption, especially for head coach Kyle Shanahan. His 8–3 postseason record since taking over the Niners in 2017 is impressive. Only Chiefs coach Andy Reid has more playoff wins in that span (14), which includes their previous head-to-head Super Bowl contest.
The Niners had a 10-point advantage in the fourth quarter of that game, before the Chiefs rallied, scoring three unanswered touchdowns to initiate their current dynastic run.
And it wasn’t the first time a Shanahan coached team fumbled a late lead in the Big Game. In Super Bowl LI, he helped the Atlanta Falcons explode to a 28-3 lead over the New England Patriots as their offensive coordinator.
The Falcons only earned two first downs in the final 27 minutes and the Patriots ripped off 31 consecutive points. Atlanta lost 34-28. It remains one of the greatest collapses in sports history.
“I’ve been able to coach in two Super Bowls,” Shanahan said, “and you lose either one of them, both are heartbreaking. So, in terms of pain, I mean, I’ve broken my arm, my collarbone, a lot of things. So those are more painful, but those things last a while. It’s all about getting back there again, and that’s what I’m excited for today.”
With two Super Bowl and two NFC Championship game defeats on his resume, Sunday is Shanahan’s chance to elevate himself from the tier of very good coaches to elite. Failing to get over the hump will raise doubts about whether he ever will. This game is a referendum on his career.
But unlike the previous two Super Bowls, Shanahan has the unlikeliest of signal callers leading his offense. Brock Purdy, the former “Mr. Irrelevant.” And the 262nd pick in the 2022 NFL draft joins his coach in having something to prove.
That’s because Purdy seemingly came out of nowhere last season to lead the Niners to the NFC championship game and now to the Super Bowl. The one-time third-string quarterback is the biggest enigma in football.
To believers, he’s an inspiring underdog story. Much like Tom Brady. A diamond in the rough, with off-the-charts intangibles that everyone else but Shanahan missed in the scouting process.
After being the final selection of his draft class, Purdy is 24-6 as a starter, including playoff games. He’s also thrown for 5,654 yards, 44 touchdowns and just 15 interceptions.
Despite what he’s achieved on the field, doubters exist. At 6-foot-1, Purdy isn’t a physical specimen. He had a solid college career at Iowa State that went largely unnoticed. There must be a reason eight quarterbacks were drafted ahead of him.
His success surely must be because of the talent alongside him and from Shanahan’s play calling. He’s an overrated game manager in the perfect situation. Just like Jimmy Garoppolo, who guided the Niners to their last Super Bowl. That’s what the skeptics think.
But Purdy can validate himself by winning on Sunday and doing what “Jimmy G” couldn’t. A championship proves that he’s a franchise quarterback, among the best this NFL legacy franchise has ever seen.
He can join Hall of Fame quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young as the third starting quarterback in the Niner’s history to win a Super Bowl.
“He [Steve Young] spoke to the team, Purdy said, “about when you have an opportunity like this, you gotta take it. You can’t let it slide. There’s a lot of players in the NFL that don’t get opportunities to go to the Super Bowl and win it.”
Young and Montana led the team to five championships. One more behind Purdy’s arm would be the franchise’s sixth – tying the Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers for the most championships of all time. The Niners can join their two constituents as the winningest franchise in the league.
The stakes couldn’t be higher for the organization, its head coach, or young quarterback.
“Is there pressure? I don’t think so,” Purdy said. “For everyone here, every season is so new. You’ve got a new team every year. We’ve had opportunities to go to the Super Bowl the last couple years … but for everyone we’re just more hungry than anything to win it.”
Maybe it’s true that the Niners don’t feel added pressure, like Purdy said. But the team sure has a hell of a lot on the line.
Whatever happens on Sunday, San Francisco fans will be there for it. In fact, they’re already here.
