When the Super Bowl LVIII matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers went to overtime on Sunday night, the Niners won the coin toss and elected to receive the kickoff, but Chiefs’ star defensive tackle Chris Jones did not seem to think that was a wise decision.
During his press conference after the game, Chris Jones made it quite clear that based on the way the overtime rules have changed for the postseason, he thinks that it is “crazy” that the Niners chose to receive the kickoff.
“They’re crazy. They’re crazy,” Jones said. “Because the overtime rules have changed where both teams get the ball, no matter who scores. So originally, you want to let the other team get the ball, stop them or hold them to three, so you know what you got. Or if you stop them, they punt it, then all you have to do is kick three.”
“They’re crazy” Chris Jones reaction to the 49ers electing to receive to start OT. #Chiefskingdom #SBLVIII pic.twitter.com/6Y3bFD4312
— 610SportsKC (@610SportsKC) February 12, 2024
Ultimately, Jones and the Chiefs were able to force a field goal, and they then trusted the Kansas City offense to go out and finish the job.
“That’s the type of trust we have in each other. We get the ball to Andy [Reid], Pat [Mahomes] and [Trav], we always feels like there’s something they can do in any given moment,” Jones said. “And they did that.”
Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan explained that they chose to receive the kickoff so that they would potentially have the ball first if they moved to a sudden-death portion of overtime. But ultimately, the Chiefs won the game before they even got to that point.
