It’s been a week of agony over our Niners loss in Super Bowl LIV for The Faithful. Because I was troubled by what I saw, I’ve been analyzing the game closely with my NFL Game Pass this week. What I saw concerning the officiating got me angry! Before I move on to my first love – baseball, I’d like to share my findings with you.
First, let me emphasize that I give the Chiefs full credit and congratulate them for a great comeback win in Super Bowl LIV. It wasn’t the Chiefs fault the officiating was so horrible. Some that read this will see it as merely sour grapes by a Fortyniner Faithful, so be it!
However, the Chiefs were helped greatly with two key bad calls, or more accurately non-calls, at critical moments in the closing minutes by the refs in their comeback! And I’m not talking about the offensive pass interference call on Kittle right before halftime. While I believe that was a ticky-tac call, it could’ve gone either way. The later blatant non-calls were grossly inconsistent with the borderline call on Kittle.
We heard that this officiating crew would let the players play and not shower the field with yellow hankies. In my opinion, they took this too far, with the exception of the questionable call on Kittle covered above. As a general observation, there were many blatant holding calls, on both sides, that were not called. One time I saw a 49ers pass rusher have his jersey almost pulled off – no call. There was not a single holding call, offensive or defensive, called in the game! I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in a NFL game!
These are the grevious non-calls in the closing minutes that cost the 49ers the game, in my opinion.
- 1st horrible call: On 3rd and 14 with 9:47 to play and the 49ers ahead 20-10. How was this blatant off-sides not called?? The 49ers should’ve gotten another chance to convert a much more manageable 3rd and 9! On the telecast Troy Aikman, the analyst on the Fox broadcast even mentioned he thought he saw KC off-sides. Yet despite his comment, Fox did not show a replay of this flagrant off-sides! See photo below that clearly shows KC number 92 in the neutral zone with the ball on the ground.
- 2nd horrible call: With 5:23 to play and the Niners still ahead 20-17 on a critical 3rd and 5 play a biltzing KC linebacker gets away with a clear helmet-to-helmet shot on Garoppolo! It should’ve been a 15 yard personal foul and a first down! Who knows, maybe the Niners run out the clock if that penalty is called. In addition, I think the hit to the head affected Jimmy G on that final drive where he overthrew Sanders on a possible touchdown pass! See the photo below that shows clearly the helmet-to-helmet hit!
Mahomes is a great QB. The KC defense played great down the stretch. The Niners made a number of critical mistakes in the 4th quarter. But, the bad officiating also played a key role in KC’s comeback! It’s better to be lucky AND good I guess! Nobody will ever convince me that the Niners were NOT the better team in Super Bowl LIV!
Now that that’s off my chest … GO GIANTS!
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Looking at the pictures, it’s clear that key calls weren’t made, ones that could have affected the outcome of the game. We have a young, healthy, talented, and now, very hungry team…the Niners will be back next season, with a vengeance! Faithful then, faithful NOW!
There were other questionable calls that weren’t as blatant, but certainly could’ve been called on KC. For example, on the final 49ers drive when they were behind 24-20 a KC defensive back gave Kittle an elbow when he was out of bounds and the whistle had been blown. Kittle protested briefly and then headed back to the huddle. That certainly could’ve been called a personal foul with 15 yards added and automatic first down!
I’m not claiming the refs cost the Niners the game outright. The Niners made plenty of mistakes to cost the game. But, the referees definitely missed some calls that contributed to KC’s improbable 4th quarter comeback! Let’s hope there’s a rematch next year in Super Bowl LV, but it’s difficult to get back there!