Forget ‘Wasp,’ 49ers coach thinks Super Bowl turned on a play by Chiefs’ Chris Jones
Most Chiefs fans would say “2-3 Jet Chip Wasp” was the turning point of Super Bowl LIV.
Down by 10 points with 7 minutes, 13 seconds to play in Super Bowl LIV, the Chiefs called for “Wasp” on a third-and-15 play. Patrick Mahomes completed a 44-yard pass to Tyreek Hill and started the comeback as the Chiefs would beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20.
San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan was on the “Chris Simms Unbuttoned” podcast last month, and was asked at what point did he thought the 49ers might be in trouble and felt momentum shift to the Chiefs.
“It wasn’t right when they got that third-and-15, because I thought it was over to me if they didn’t get that,” Shanahan said on the podcast. “And right when they got that, I knew it wasn’t over. I knew it was a game.
“When you can have two possessions and with no worry about the time — like, the clock isn’t a deal to me — and it would have been three possessions if they didn’t get that first down. And that’s when the clock was a deal. But once they got that, I was like, ‘All right, this is a game now.’ “
The Chiefs scored a touchdown shortly after that pass and cut the lead to 20-17.
In Shanahan’s mind, however, the pivotal play in the game came when the 49ers got the ball back. The Chiefs forced the 49ers into a three-and-out, got the ball back and scored the go-ahead touchdown on their next drive.
On that three-and-out, Raheem Mostert picked up 5 yards on first down for San Francisco, and Shanahan said the the next play nearly broke open for huge yardage and would have put the 49ers in position to put the game away.
Instead, Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones made a big play. That’s the one that sticks out in Shanahan’s mind as being the turning point in the game.
“They scored, and we had to convert the next, and on a second-and-6, they brought a SAM-MIKE corner blitz into our run, and we pulled in and threw an RPO, and Chris Jones tipped it,” said Shanahan, who remembered the distance to gain wrong. “We went to third-and-6 — we had to convert that to stay on the field to make it tough — and then we missed the third down. So it was that tipped ball on second-and-6, and then the third down that we missed, and that’s when I was like, ‘All right, the momentum has completely changed now.’
“I knew once the third-and-15 happened, alright it’s a game. We could have ended it. We had (George) Kittle uncovered, and Chris Jones made a hell of a play and tipped it. They brought the SAM-MIKE corner blitz to a 3-by-1 slot and we flooded the other way, which you can’t cover all that — Kittle was uncovered — and he just got his hands up and tipped it. And then we didn’t convert the third down, and that’s when I was like, ‘All right, now the momentum has changed.’ Because now it’s just one score, and they are moving.”
Here is the play and as Twitter user Eric Edholm notes Debo Samuel also was wide open:
You can listen to the podcast here or watch the conversation below.
This starts with Shanahan talking about Super Bowl LIV:
