The Kansas City Chiefs won the 2024 Superbowl, defeating the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime. The chiefs have now won three Superbowls in the last five years and are the first team to win back to back since Tom Brady and the Patriots in 2003 and 2004.
Here are some of the reasons the Chiefs were able to defeat the 49ers and become back-to-back Superbowl champions.
Quarter One
The game started very much in favor of the 49ers, as they commanded the ball all the way down to the chiefs 29 yard line. The following play they ran the ball which resulted in a fumble by Cristian McCaffery, leading to a turnover and giving the Chiefs the advantage. Both teams have an opportunity to get the ball, but neither is able to capitalize on it to end the first and begin the second quarter.
Quarter Two
At this point the 49ers have a 3-0 lead with 5 minutes left before half time. They throw left behind the line of scrimmage to Juan Jennings who looks all the way back to the right side of the field then throws to Christian McCaffery. McCaffery catches it and runs it in from the 21 yard line to take a 10-0 lead. ”I think one of the biggest plays of the game was the McCaffery screen touchdown,” said Noah Scherer (‘26). The Chiefs then end the half with a field goal to close the game to 10-3.
Quarter Three
The Chiefs start the quarter early with a field goal to make it a 10-6 game. After a 49ers drive, the Chiefs get the ball back and once again are stuffed by the 49ers defense, where they punt back to San Francisco.
“The biggest play of the game came on a fumbled punt to give the Chiefs great field position,” said Logan Abrahms (‘24), and gave Kansas City the ball on their own 16 yard line. The following play was a touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
Quarter Four
To begin the fourth, the 49ers took a commanding drive and scored a 10 yard passing touchdown to Juan Jennings to make the game 16-13, but struggles in the extra point resulted in a block to keep the score 16-13. After a long Chiefs drive, they tie the game at 16-16, where the 49ers get the ball back and make another field goal to take a 19-16 lead. The Chiefs get the ball back with two minutes left and drive all the way down.
“The biggest play of the game for me was the Travis Kelce catch to help set up for the game tying field goal,” said Ayden Schelct (‘26). After that play, the Chiefs kicked a field goal to tie 19-19, sending the game into overtime.
Overtime
The 49ers elect to receive after winning the coin flip, but get stopped and have to punt the ball to the chiefs. The Chiefs have a long 6 minute drive to bring the game to the last play. They are on the 49ers three and a half yard line. The Chiefs snap and fake left. Mahomes rolls right. He flips the ball into the endzone to Mecole Hardman to win the game 25-22.
