It’s one thing to carry around the things you wish you had done differently. It’s quite another when those mistakes are captured on video during the biggest American sporting event of the year.
That’s what the 49ers are wrestling with after their Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs Sunday evening.
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The Niners spoke to the media one last time Wednesday as they cleared out their lockers ahead of the long offseason.
“I watched the Super Bowl at least five or six times,” receiver Emmanuel Sanders said, “and it’s like when you watch a movie and it’s like watching the Titanic and you hope the ship just doesn’t sink, and, for some reason, the ship keeps sinking over and over.”
Other Niners players are just reviewing the tape in their heads, where it’s still crystal clear.
DeForest Buckner said he keeps replaying the Chiefs’ third-and-15 conversion halfway through the fourth quarter, when he got to KC’s star quarterback Patrick Mahomes just a second too late.
THAT WAS COMPLETE pic.twitter.com/RDdgrCYJAm
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) February 3, 2020
“Coming around the corner, hitting him literally as he throws it and looking up and seeing it complete was probably one of the most gut-wrenching feelings I’ve had in my career,” Buckner said. “That’s what sparked their energy. That’s what sparked their run. I will forever play that play in my head.
“Until I win me one, that play will forever be in my head. That’s a play that could really determine winning or losing the Super Bowl. Find another step. Get another step faster.”
Jimmy Garoppolo said he would love another shot at his long ball to Emmanuel Sanders that would have retaken the lead for the 49ers late in the fourth quarter.
“I wouldn’t want to put anyone in my head that Monday morning going through all that stuff,” he said, though he was composed Wednesday in taking responsibility for missed plays.
Tight end George Kittle vowed to himself late in the game that he’d return to the Super Bowl stage. That didn’t make his first viewing of the game any easier.
“I actually watched it for the first time last night. It made it a lot worse,” Kittle said. “You have to watch it to get a little bit of closure. It didn’t really help me at all. I’ll probably watch it a lot more times, whether it’s individual efforts because we played a pretty good game, and just didn’t make enough plays.”
