ESPN is scared

[arxpert]

KC wasn't playing scared.  They knew what it took to win because SF took the ball first.  In regulation, they trusted their QB AND defense, although I was pretty damn nervous on 3rd and 4 with 2 minutes left.  A first down likely ends the game...and I'm a little shocked that SF didn't go for it on 4th (or run it on 3rd so they have an opportunity to put KC away).

Regardless, it was another fun game to watch.  On to College Basketball, which is my personal preference anyway.

I would have ran a play with 6 seconds left. I trust Mahomes enough to not royally screw it up. That's what I meant by playing it scared if that wasn't clear. It only looks smart because it worked out. Had they lost, I believe plenty of people would have questioned not trying 1 more play. It took 4 seconds for the Kelce play that Warner defended.

Yes:

Conference Title Hunt
Conference Tournaments Around the Country
Selection Sunday
Brackets
March Madness ---> Especially Ro64 Thursday and Friday, the Two Best back to back sports days of the Year IMHO.

[KansasCityCats]

Heck yeah. First two rounds (Thursday through Sunday) are the four greatest days of the entire calendar year. 5 weeks and counting.

[arxpert]

Heck yeah. First two rounds (Thursday through Sunday) are the four greatest days of the entire calendar year. 5 weeks and counting.

I made a mistake - according to my further research over the overtime rules, now I know with 100% certainty that SF made the correct call to take the ball.

Taking the ball first was in fact the correct decision because had SF held KC to a FG instead of allowing the TD, the Niners would get the ball back on the ensuing kickoff and only need a FG to win the game on their own terms. There would not be continuous rebuttal opportunities. This is where my initial thought was incorrect.

It now seems to me that the OT coinflip decision MUST 100% depend on the immediate situation at hand. I don't care what Mahomes said regarding Kicking the ball off or not. If they were that cocky about everything, then they would have had more successful drives in Regulation. It's a noble comment when victorious, but not something I would expect to hear much about had they failed.

SF Criteria:
-Defense Gassed from defending a long drive to hold KC to the FG to go to OT.
-No 30 Minute Half Time Show to gather your team and come out with a fresh plan.
-Defense didn't indicate they would surrender a TD from a long field scenario all game.
-SF Offense had that entire long drive to draw up a plan for their next drive - whenever that may have been, which did in fact work out to move the ball, but stalled out very close to the end zone.

I think if anything the 3rd down call before the stall out probably should have been a run play to potentially break through or preserve an option to consider going for it or drawing KC offsides (since timeouts are effectively meaningless, plenty of time to figure it out).

So there really is no purpose for a game clock other than if the game continued to be a shutout through 4 quarters of play or tied after the first 2 possessions in any capacity.

Then and only then, from my understanding, would they have to start another new game where both teams get to possess the ball at least once (except for a defensive turnover scenario). So I guess technically not wrong that I don't think we will ever see 8 full quarters of football in the playoffs, but now I see that SF's choice to receive was even better than I originally thought.