WATCH: New Footage Reveals Immediate Reactions to 49ers’ Costly Overtime Decision in Super Bowl LVIII
New Super Bowl LVIII footage released by the NFL shows the players’ reactions to the San Francisco 49ers’ decision to receive the ball first in overtime.
The game went to overtime after Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs drove down the field to tie it with a late field goal. As the away team, the Niners called the ensuing coin toss and won it. Linebacker Fred Warner told the referee that his team wanted to start with the ball.
For the Chiefs, it was great news.
“They want it!” Mahomes said to his team while jogging to the sideline after the coin toss. “They want the ball. They wanted it. Hey, they wanted it. They wanted it, baby!”
Star tight end Travis Kelce was just as excited.
“We want them to have the ball!” Kelce said as he pumped his fist. “They want it, they can have it!”
The excitement was largely due to the NFL’s newest overtime rules. Previously, an overtime game would be won if a team scored a touchdown on the first drive of the extra period. If that team instead kicked a field goal, the other team would have the chance to either tie the game or win on the next possession.
Now, the other team is given a possession even in the event that the team with the ball first scores a touchdown.
After the game — which the Chiefs won 25-22 — Chiefs players have come out and said they wanted the ball second so they could get the ball knowing what they needed. With the Niners ending the first drive with a field goal, the Chiefs knew they needed a touchdown to win; and even if the Niners scored a touchdown, the Chiefs planned on going for a two-point conversion if they were able to score a touchdown of their own.
Also included in the footage was the admission by Niners fullback Kyle Juszczyk that he wasn’t aware of the new rule until that moment. He wasn’t alone.
“Hey, even if we score a touchdown, they get the ball,” the fullback said in a huddle with his teammates and coaches. “I didn’t know that.”
Watch above via CW Sports.
