The San Francisco 49ers have come near successful the Tremendous Bowl twice within the twenty first century, with their final victory coming within the 1994 season.
Their 2012 run got here near breaking a Tremendous Bowl dry spell with future Corridor of Fame working again Frank Gore main the cost in Tremendous Bowl XLVII in opposition to the Baltimore Ravens. Down 34-29 with just below 4:30 left within the recreation, the 49ers had an opportunity to attain the go-ahead landing. Gore, who led all gamers that night time with 110 dashing yards and a landing on 19 carries, introduced San Francisco down close to the top zone to arrange first-and-goal on the 7-yard line with 2:47 left within the recreation.
4 performs got here and went with out Gore touching the ball once more, as his backup LaMichael James had a 2-yard carry adopted by three consecutive incompletions by quarterback Colin Kaepernick. San Francisco got here up brief by 5 yards. The Ravens gained 34-31 after taking a security as a mechanism to burn day without work the clock.
In 2019, in opposition to their present rival, the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs, they led 20-10 within the remaining quarter, however the Chiefs outscored them 21-0 to clinch the Tremendous LIV victory.
Listed below are their three key the explanation why the 49ers can come out on high within the huge recreation for a change.
3. Improved recreation administration by Kyle Shanahan
The 49ers head coach is clearly an offensive savant. Within the Tremendous Bowl period since 1966, Shanahan's offenses have averaged essentially the most yards per play (5.9) and yards per cross try (8.1) of any head coach, a minimum of 100 video games as a head coach.
However his recreation administration for the overwhelming majority of his time on the helm of San Francisco since 2017 has been considerably questionable. Getting into this postseason, the 49ers have been 0-31 down 5 or extra factors getting into the fourth quarter. That was the state of affairs they confronted in opposition to the Inexperienced Bay Packers within the NFC divisional spherical and so they got here again to win 24-21. They have been additionally 0-19 by 17 or extra factors within the second half getting into this postseason. The 49ers overcame that result in win the NFC title recreation in opposition to the Detroit Lions 34-31.
Now he has another hurdle to beat: his recreation administration within the Tremendous Bowl. Shanahan made his mark within the huge recreation twice, as soon as because the offensive coordinator of the 2016 Atlanta Falcons and because the head coach of the 2019 49ers. These groups mixed for ZERO factors within the fourth quarter and/or additional time of these two video games, whereas their opponents (2016 New England Patriots and 2019 Kansas Metropolis Chiefs) mixed for 46 factors (Patriots 25, Chiefs 21). Shanahan presided over the Falcons' largest Tremendous Bowl lead, 28-3 in opposition to the Patriots, and the 49ers, who allowed a 20-10 lead within the fourth quarter to show right into a 31-20 Chiefs victory.
As soon as Shanahan will get these leads, the issue with the play is clear: not trusting his working recreation. He marked passes at a ratio of two:1 or greater for his offensive performs in each of these video games. Atlanta famously suffered an eight-point sack on second-and-11 within the remaining 4 minutes of the Tremendous Bowl recreation, pushing them out of discipline objective vary and stopping them from going up by two scores with three minutes left. Within the Falcons-Patriots Tremendous Bowl, Shanahan accomplished 12 passes for simply 4 runs after constructing a 28-3 lead. He accomplished 12 passes for 5 runs within the first 49ers-Chiefs Tremendous Bowl after constructing a 20-10 benefit.
Shanahan teaching like he did when he mounted comebacks in opposition to the Packers and Lions and never like he did in previous Tremendous Bowls will likely be a important issue within the 49ers' success.
2. WR Deebo Samuel's involvement all through the sport
Screens and yards after the catch have been criticized for the 49ers offense resulting from their solid of Professional Bowlers and All-Professionals of their offensive ability teams. Quarterback Brock Purdy led the NFL in yards per cross try on screens (8.8) and San Francisco led the NFL with 28 performs of 20 or extra yards after the catch.
Nobody on the 49ers embodies the staff's explosive capacity with the soccer of their arms fairly like Deebo Samuel. He led all NFL receivers in yards per catch this season (8.8), a feat he achieved for 4 straight seasons. No different receiver has achieved it greater than twice prior to now 30 seasons. Samuel is the one participant within the Tremendous Bowl period with 4,000 or extra receiving yards and 1,000 or extra dashing yards in his first 5 seasons. He's additionally dynamic as a rusher, because the earlier stats recommend. He leads the NFL in yards per carry (6.3) since getting into the league in 2019 among the many 129 gamers with a minimum of 150 carries in that span.
The final time San Francisco misplaced a playoff recreation with a wholesome quarterback within the 2021 NFC Championship Sport was a 20-17 loss to the eventual Tremendous Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams. The 49ers really led 17-7 on the day, however struggled to attain within the fourth quarter as Samuel didn't actually have a discipline objective within the remaining 12:30.
Deebo must be concerned and dominant for the 49ers to beat Mahomes and the Chiefs.
He’s the very best working again in soccer, the 2023 NFL Offensive Participant of the Yr and an important a part of the 49ers offense. The NFL chief in dashing yards (1,459), scrimmage yards (2,023) and co-leader in scrimmage touchdowns (21) earned each Professional Bowl and First Workforce All-Professional choices for his manufacturing this season.
He turned simply the fourth participant for the reason that AFL/NFL merger in 1970 to steer the NFL in dashing yards wire-to-wire, which means he topped the league's dashing yardage checklist each week after Week 1. The opposite three gamers on that membership are all Corridor of Famers: Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton and OJ Simpson.
Wire-to-wire dashing titles since 1970
| RB | SEASON(S) |
|---|---|
|
Christian McCaffrey |
2023 |
|
Emmitt Smith |
1995 |
|
Walter Payton |
1977* |
|
OJ Simpson |
1973*, 1975 |
* Gained NFL MVP that season
McCaffrey has stored it up this postseason, dashing for 90 or extra yards and two or extra touchdowns in every of San Francisco's playoff wins in opposition to the Inexperienced Bay Packers and Detroit Lions. It gained't be simple in opposition to a Chiefs protection that held the AFC's high seed, the Baltimore Ravens, to season-lows in dashing yards (81) and carries (16) within the AFC Championship. Nevertheless, they have been cellular within the common season, permitting 113.2 dashing yards per recreation, which is barely under common (18th) within the NFL.
If the 49ers win on Sunday, CMC could be the primary franchise to win a Tremendous Bowl in the identical season since Corridor of Famer Terrell Davis did it with Mike Shanahan's Denver Broncos within the 1998 season. Now McCaffrey has an opportunity to do the identical with Mike's son Kyle as his head coach and play-caller, and his staff's likelihood to win all of it for the primary time for the reason that 1994 season is dependent upon what he can do along with his legs.
