Super Bowl loss taught 49ers safety valuable lessons about facing Chiefs offense
With 9 minutes, 57 seconds remaining in Super Bowl LIV, San Francisco 49ers free safety Jimmie Ward joined 14 teammates in the back of the end zone to pose for a celebratory photo.
Teammate Tarvarius Moore had just intercepted a pass from Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and with the 49ers leading by 10 points, things seemed to be going San Francisco’s way.
Little did those 15 players know it, but everything would go the Chiefs way after that. The Chiefs scored three touchdowns in a five-minute span of the fourth quarter and won the Super Bowl 31-20.
San Francisco free safety Jimmie Ward told reporters Tuesday he initially couldn’t watch the Super Bowl.
“It took me a while ‘til I finally watched it, probably a month or two,” Ward said of the Super Bowl. “I watched the game at least I want to say probably 10 or 20 times. Man, I don’t know, I just feel you’ve have to get over it and think how you can get better until Game 1.”
Ward, who was credited with the tackle of Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill on the “2-3 Jet Chip” play, was asked after watching the game about his biggest takeaway.
There were a couple lessons Ward learned.
“Whenever you play the Chiefs, make sure everybody runs to the ball,” Ward said. “I felt like we were doing a pretty good job of that, but you’ve got to run to the ball. They’ve got a lot of fast guys who can get some (yards) after the catch, a scrambling quarterback and just finish.
“It’s all about the finish. I feel like we went out there and had a very good half, even up to the fourth quarter. The last five minutes, we just didn’t finish. It seemed they wanted it more than us and that’s why they won the game.”
