49ers’ George Kittle on first-half pass interference call: ‘I’ve got to live with it’
San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle, with seconds left in the first half of Super Bowl 54 was wide open down the left sideline as Jimmy Garoppolo’s pass came his way. He had at least a step on Kansas City Chiefs safety Daniel Sorensen as he hauled in what should have been a 42-yard catch to bring the 49ers into the red zone.
Instead, a yellow flag flew onto the field.
Offensive pass interference. A big play negated. A big opportunity wasted.
A potentially game-changing play for nothing.
While the penalty — shaky at best — wasn’t the sole determining factor in the 49ers’ 31-20 loss to the Chiefs on Sunday, it was a momentum-deflating affair for a San Francisco team with a chance to go into intermission with a lead before getting the ball back to resume the second half.
Instead, the teams went into the locker room tied 10-10.
“Ref made the call. I’ve got to live with it,” said Kittle, who could be seen smiling after the penalty was called.
While the play could have given the 49ers a halftime lead, it almost didn’t happen.
The 49ers received the ball with 59 seconds left in the half at their own 16-yard line. Both teams had three timeouts left, and Kyle Shanahan knew what a threat Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the game’s eventual MVP, could be even with a shaky performance in the game to that point.
So, Shanahan dialed up a pair of run plays to open the drive, hoping to take the game to halftime tied.
The Chiefs called timeout after second down, and with 20 seconds left, Garoppolo hit Jeff Wilson for a 20-yard gain.
The 49ers had momentum. Shanahan called a timeout of his own and went for one final strike. Garoppolo dropped back, saw Kittle and heaved a pass down the sideline.
It was all for naught.
“[The Chiefs] had three timeouts and it was 10 to 10,” Shanahan said. “The last thing we’re going to do there is allow them to get the ball with three timeouts left, especially with their quarterback and the offensive speed, and go down and score before the half. Felt real good at 10-10, especially with us starting with the ball. I thought it played out all right. I thought we should have gotten points, but they end up calling that PI on Kittle.”
San Francisco would score 10 consecutive points to start the second half before the Chiefs made their final big postseason rally.
Three fourth-quarter touchdowns cemented the Chiefs’ first Super Bowl victory in 50 years.
And it sealed the 49ers’ fate, one that might have been a little different if one flag late in the first half wasn’t thrown.
“Pretty brutal,” said Kittle, who caught four passes for 36 yards. “It just sucks. It’s not really anything you can really wrap your head around. I wish I had another half to play. We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities.”
This story was originally published February 2, 2020 at 11:54 PM.
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