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How many Super Bowls have the 49ers won? All of San Francisco's past victories and appearances

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\n By Dave Pehling\n

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\n Updated on: February 12, 2024 / 10:59 AM PST\n / CBS San Francisco\n

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\n 49ers fans stunned by team's OT loss to Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII \n \n \n\n

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\n \n \n \n\n 49ers fans stunned by team's OT loss to Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII\n\n 11:17\n\n \n \n \n \n

The San Francisco 49ers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in a heartbreaking overtime Super Bowl thriller Sunday night, 25-22.

The back-and-forth defensive battle found the two teams tied at 19 at the end of regulation after late field goals. The 49ers were forced to settle for a field goal in their first OT possession, giving the Chiefs the chance to become the first back-to-back Super Bowl champion in two decades.

More information on Super Bowl LVIII is available on blogs at both CBS News and CBS Sports.

There are plenty more stories to read about the run-up to the Super Bowl from both CBS San Francisco and CBS News, including fascinating 49ers Faithful fan profiles, a look at some of the Super Bowl fan experiences available, the skyrocketing price of tickets to the big game, the crackdown on counterfeit NFL merchandise in Las Vegas and the record-setting amount of gambling expected for Sunday's game.

How many Super Bowls have the 49ers won?

The 49ers have won five Super Bowls. Their first trip to the Big Game in 1982 found quarterback Joe Montana and head coach Bill Walsh leading the team to victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI, 26-21. That marked the beginning of San Francisco's decade of dynasty, with Montana helming the team to a dominant 38-16 win over the Miami Dolphins in 1985 and a heart-stopping victory four years later, beating the Bengals again four years later, 20-16, in 1989. The team accomplished the rare feat of winning back-to-back Super Bowls the following year as Montana won his third Super Bowl MVP trophy after a decisive 55-10 rout over the Denver Broncos in 1990, also his fourth championship. It wasn't until the team finally returned for Super Bowl XXIX in 1995 that quarterback Steve Young got his first win as the 49ers topped the San Diego Chargers, 49-26.

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How many Super Bowls have the 49ers played in?

The 49ers have played in a total of eight Super Bowls. The team was 5-0 in the Big Game, but hit an extended drought after their fifth victory in 1995. The team didn't return to the Super Bowl for nearly two decades, finally making it back in 2012, when quarterback Colin Kaepernick led the team in a heroic rally that fell short with the Baltimore Ravens winning 34-31. The team's seventh and most recent appearance found the 49ers facing their current opponent, the Kansas City Chiefs, just four years ago. That night, the Chiefs came from behind for a 31-20 win. On Sunday, the 49ers had a chance to avenge that loss, but fell short, losing to the Chiefs in overtime.

The last 49ers Super Bowl win, in detail

When the 49ers won the team's last NFL title in Super Bowl XXIX over the San Diego Chargers, San Francisco fans were in the midst of what then seemed a long five years without a Super Bowl victory as questions surrounded Joe Montana's successor at quarterback Steve Young and his ability to lead the team back to the top.

Montana delivered four Super Bowl titles and a trio of Super Bowl MVP trophies during a decade of dominance that started with the team winning its first NFL championship to close out the 1981 season. Young would revive the ghosts of glories past as he led the team through three quarters of stellar football against the Chargers. He seemed completely in command from the opening drive, with San Diego facing a 14-0 deficit just five minutes into the game. The 49ers Faithful gathered to watch the game in establishments along Miami's South Beach hardly had time to finish their first drink.

Young threw four scoring passes in the first half: a 44-yard strike to Jerry Rice, a pair of touchdown passes to Rickey Watters and a 5-yard pass to William Floyd. The San Diego defense was so threatened by the deep ball to Rice that it gave up passes to running backs Watters and Floyd and paid the price. The 49ers went into the locker room with a 28-10 lead at halftime. The team extended the advantage to 42-10 on a 9-yard Watters scoring run and a 15-yard TD pass from Young to Rice. The pair would team up one more time before the final whistle.

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The Chargers threatened to mount a fourth quarter rally with a pair of touchdowns of their own, but Young would not be denied. As the clock ticked down, a sideline camera crew famously recorded the quarterback as he asked teammates to help \"get this monkey off my back.\" With his first Super Bowl win, Young emerged from Montana's shadow and earned his own Super Bowl MVP award to cap a historic season. He eventually joined Montana in the NFL Hall of Fame. On the sidelines that day was a young 49ers ball boy whose father was on the team's coaching staff. His name was Kyle Shanahan.

The last 49ers Super Bowl appearance, in detail

The 49ers were hoping to exact revenge on the Chiefs with their rematch in Super Bowl LVIII, but it was not to be. After a tight, back-and-forth defensive battle, quarterback Patrick Mahomes was able to rally Kansas City to the team's second straight Super Bowl title Sunday. The 49ers struck first in the game, taking a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter on a 55-yard field goal from kicker Jake Moody, setting what was briefly the record for the longest field goal in Super Bowl history.

The Niners pushed their lead to 10-0 thanks to a double-pass trick play that found 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy pitching the ball back to wide receiver Jauan Jennings, who then threw it across the field to Christian McCaffrey, who sprinted 21-yards for the score. The Chiefs finally got on the board thanks to a 28-yard Harrison Butker field goal before halftime, but the 49ers defense stymied Mahomes for much of the game.

Midway through the third quarter, Butker broke Moody's record, hitting his own 57-yard field goal to cut the Niners lead to 10-6. A fumbled punt by Niners' returner Ray-Ray McCloud late in the third quarter fumbled set up a Mahomes touchdown pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, giving the Chiefs a 13-10 lead. The Niners responded early in the fourth, with Purdy and Jennings connecting for a six-yard touchdown. However, Moody's missed extra point, left the 49ers with a slim 16-13 lead.

Butker's hit another field goal from 24 yards with under six minutes to go to tie the score at 16. Moody was able to redeemed himself for his earlier miss, nailing a 53-yard field goal with under two minutes to play to give the Niners the 19-16 lead. But as he has done so many times before, Mahomes drove the Chiefs down the field, setting up a 29-yard tying field goal with three seconds left to send the game to overtime. The 49ers were forced to settle for a field goal in their first OT possession. Mahomes drove the Chiefs down the field, closing the game with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman with 3 seconds left in overtime to beat the 49ers 25-22, becoming the first repeat Super Bowl champs in 19 years. The latest loss for the 49ers makes the team 0-3 in the Super Bowl after its remarkable string of victories in the '80s and '90s. Falling to the Chiefs a second time in a row was especially hard for head coach Kyle Shanahan, who has now been involved in three Super Bowl loses where his team was defeated in a late rally by the opposition.

Full list of 49ers Super Bowl wins

Super Bowl XVI on January 24, 1982, the 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 26-21
Super Bowl XIX on January 20, 1985, the 49ers beat the Miami Dolphins 38-16
Super Bowl XXIII on January 22, 1989, the 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16
Super Bowl XXIV on January 28, 1990, the 49ers beat the Denver Broncos 55-10
Super Bowl XXIX on January 29, 1995, the 49ers beat the San Diego Chargers 49-26

Full list of 49ers Super Bowl appearances

Super Bowl XVI on January 24, 1982, the 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 26-21
Super Bowl XIX on January 20, 1985, the 49ers beat the Miami Dolphins 38-16
Super Bowl XXIII on January 22, 1989, the 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16
Super Bowl XXIV on January 28, 1990, the 49ers beat the Denver Broncos 55-10
Super Bowl XXIX on January 29, 1995, the 49ers beat the San Diego Chargers 49-26
Super Bowl XLVII on February 3, 2013, the Baltimore Ravens beat the 49ers 34-31
Super Bowl LIV on February 2, 2020, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the 49ers 31-20
Super Bowl LVII on February 11, 2024, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the 49ers 25-22

San Francisco 49ers
Super Bowl

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Featured Local Savings

	1	2	3	4	T
SF	3	7	10	0	20
KC	7	3	0	21	31

1st Quarter	SF	KC
$\"San$	FG 7:57 Robbie Gould 38 Yd Field Goal 10 plays, 62 yards, 5:58	3	0
$\"Kansas$	TD 0:31 Patrick Mahomes 1 Yd Run (Harrison Butker Kick) 15 plays, 75 yards, 7:26	3	7

2nd Quarter	SF	KC
$\"Kansas$	FG 9:32 Harrison Butker 31 Yd Field Goal 9 plays, 43 yards, 4:36	3	10
$\"San$	TD 5:05 Kyle Juszczyk 15 Yd pass from Jimmy Garoppolo (Robbie Gould Kick) 7 plays, 80 yards, 4:27	10	10

3rd Quarter	SF	KC
$\"San$	FG 9:29 Robbie Gould 42 Yd Field Goal 9 plays, 60 yards, 5:31	13	10
$\"San$	TD 2:35 Raheem Mostert 1 Yd Run (Robbie Gould Kick) 6 plays, 55 yards, 2:48	20	10

4th Quarter	SF	KC
$\"Kansas$	TD 6:13 Travis Kelce 1 Yd pass from Patrick Mahomes (Harrison Butker Kick) 10 plays, 83 yards, 2:40	20	17
$\"Kansas$	TD 2:44 Damien Williams 5 Yd pass from Patrick Mahomes (Harrison Butker Kick) 7 plays, 65 yards, 2:26	20	24
$\"Kansas$	TD 1:12 Damien Williams 38 Yd Run (Harrison Butker Kick) 2 plays, 42 yards, 0:13	20	31

Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA
San Francisco	12	5	.706	491	298
Los Angeles	10	7	.588	404	377
Seattle	9	8	.529	364	402
Arizona	4	13	.235	330	455

Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA
Kansas City	11	6	.647	371	294
Las Vegas	8	9	.471	332	331
Denver	8	9	.471	357	413
Los Angeles	5	12	.294	346	398

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How the Chiefs Beat the 49ers to Win the Super Bowl

Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to three fourth-quarter touchdowns as Kansas City won its first Super Bowl title in 50 years.

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By Benjamin Hoffman

Published Feb. 2, 2020Updated Feb. 6, 2021

\"\" — Patrick Mahomes threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. \u2014 After a 50-year wait, the Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl champions once again, after Patrick Mahomes engineered a stirring fourth-quarter comeback Sunday to beat the San Francisco 49ers, 31-20, at a raucous Hard Rock Stadium.

It was a game of momentum swings, but the last one went to the Chiefs, who entered the fourth quarter trailing by 10 points but proceeded to score three touchdowns over the course of just 5 minutes 1 second of game clock, overwhelming a San Francisco defense that had simply been hoping to hold on to a lead.

\u201cI mean we never lost faith \u2014 that\u2019s the biggest thing,\u201d Mahomes said in an on-field interview immediately after clock ran out.

Confetti angels! @demarcus #SBLIV | #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/hiyxBKlMeT
— NFL (@NFL) February 3, 2020

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Mahomes, 24, became the youngest quarterback named Super Bowl most valuable player, one year after he had become the youngest player named league M.V.P.

Mahomes had looked shaky for much of the game, throwing two second-half interceptions as his team fell behind by 10 points. But he was picked up by his defense in the fourth quarter as they harassed San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo into a series of bad throws and ineffective drives, allowing Kansas City\u2019s offense to find its rhythm.

The comeback began with a 44-yard completion from Mahomes to Tyreek Hill on a crucial 3rd-and-15 play in the fourth quarter, and included short scoring passes to tight end Travis Kelce and running back Damien Williams. Mahomes finished the game having completed 26 of 41 passes for 286 yards, with the two touchdowns but also two interceptions. He got huge contributions from Williams (133 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns) and wide receivers Hill (105 receiving yards) and Sammy Watkins (98 receiving yards). Kelce, the team\u2019s All-Pro tight end, scored the touchdown that followed Hill\u2019s long catch, and began the Chiefs\u2019 rally.

The win gave Coach Andy Reid his first championship after a long career defined by teams that were always good but could never quite get to the top. A Super Bowl champion as an assistant coach with Green Bay, he led the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl after the 2004 season as a head coach but lost the game to the New England Patriots.

An ebullient Reid was emotional after the win, saying of the comeback, \u201cWhen you\u2019re down by a couple scores, you have to jump in it.\u201d

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Chiefs Coach Andy Reid, won his first championship as a head coach.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

Comebacks have become the Chiefs\u2019 signature. Sunday\u2019s victory was the third comeback of 10 or more points by Mahomes and the Chiefs during this postseason \u2014 an N.F.L. record \u2014 and it seemed inevitable once Garoppolo and the 49ers\u2019 offense began to falter.

Garoppolo, who controlled the game for three quarters, completed 20 of 31 passes for 219 yards and a touchdown, with two interceptions, one of which came after the Chiefs\u2019 comeback as San Francisco desperately tried to get itself back into the game.

For Coach Kyle Shanahan of the 49ers, the loss had to bring back bad memories of the Super Bowl three years ago, when his Atlanta Falcons blew a 28-3 fourth-quarter lead and lost to the Patriots. While this comeback was not quite as extreme as the one engineered by Tom Brady that day, it was similarly gutting, as Mahomes brought his team back from its lowest point, converting a 3rd-and-15 pass with 7:13 left in the game.

To follow the game as it happened, read on:

Here\u2019s what you need to know:

Williams scores again. That\u2019ll do it.

With the Chiefs looking to run out the clock, Williams breaks around left end instead and races down the sideline for a 38-yard touchdown. Game. Set. Super Bowl.

A Kendall Fuller interception of Garoppolo with 57 seconds left is just the cherry on top, and a chance to douse Andy Reid in Gatorade as he finally claims his first title as a head coach.

A turnover on downs has Kansas City in control.

San Francisco has handed the ball back to Patrick Mahomes with just 1:25 left and the Chiefs leading, 24-20.

After a 16-yard pass to Kendrick Bourne had provided some hope on the drive, Garoppolo\u2019s next three passes were incomplete, with one being batted into the air, one nearly being intercepted, and the third sailing well out of his wide receiver\u2019s reach.

On 4th-and-10, he was wrapped up by Kansas City and tossed to the ground for a turnover on downs.

This game is all but over.

Patrick Mahomes inexplicably has the Chiefs leading.

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Damien Williams scores a fourth quarter touchdown.Credit...AJ Mast for The New York Times

That did not take long.

Patrick Mahomes completed a 5-yard touchdown pass to Damien Williams and after the extra point, Kansas City finds itself leading, 24-20, with 2:44 left. Williams came close to stepping out of bounds on the touchdown catch, but he reached the ball over the pylon to break the plane of the goal line and the play was upheld after a review.

The Chiefs trailed by 10 points before Travis Kelce\u2019s touchdown catch with 6:13 left in the fourth quarter. They now just have to hold on for less than three minutes to secure the team\u2019s first championship in 50 years.

The 60-yard drive had started with a few short drives and then Mahomes looked deep to his right and connected with Sammy Watkins for a 38-yard pass that put the Chiefs on the 49ers\u2019 10-yard line.

The 49ers throw away a drive.

Looking to keep the ball out of Patrick Mahomes\u2019s hands, the 49ers absolutely fell down on the job.

They started with a 5-yard run by Emmanuel Sanders. After a Jimmy Garoppolo pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage by Chris Jones, the Chiefs put pressure on him again, forcing the San Francisco quarterback to simply throw the ball away on third down.

Patrick Mahomes now has the ball on his team\u2019s 35-yard line, trailing by only 3 points, with 5:10 left in the game.

The 49ers\u2019 drive took just 1:03 off the clock.

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Travis Kelce scored on a short pass in the fourth quarter to cut the 49ers\u2019 lead to 20-17.Credit...AJ Mast for The New York Times

Kelce\u2019s touchdown catch makes it a one-score game.

The comeback may be beginning. Now we have to see how Coach Kyle Shanahan responds.

Lining up at the San Francisco 1-yard line, Patrick Mahomes rolled to his right and threw to Travis Kelce for a touchdown that along with the extra point has the Chiefs trailing, 20-17, with 6:13 left in the game.

Earlier in the drive, San Francisco successfully challenged a call of a complete pass, resulting in a 3rd-and-15, but Mahomes, under intense pressure from San Francisco defenders, launched a ball down the field to a wide-open Tyreek Hill for a 44-yard gain that put the Chiefs just outside the red zone.

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Tyreek Hill catches a 44 yard pass in the fourth quarter.Credit...Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

Another attempt to Hill sailed well out of the wide receiver\u2019s reach, and Mahomes was chased into throwing the ball away by Arik Armstead on second down. That set up a 3rd-and-10. Mahomes threw incomplete to Kelce in the end zone, but Tarvarius Moore, who delivered an interception earlier in the game, was correctly called for pass interference, with the 20-yard penalty putting the ball on San Francisco\u2019s 1-yard line.

At that point it was just a matter of time, and Mahomes put the points on the board with just one more play.

Does Mahomes have another comeback in him?

If you\u2019re looking for a reason for San Francisco to be nervous, it comes from Patrick Mahomes\u2019s performances just in this postseason. In a divisional round game against the Houston Texans, Mahomes and the Chiefs fell behind by 23-0 in the second quarter before winning, 51-31. In the A.F.C. championship game against the Tennessee Titans, the Chiefs fell behind by 17-7 before winning, 35-24.

With just under seven minutes to play, the 49ers are leading by 10 points. But Mahomes has the ball and a chance to score. And with Mahomes, scoring plays tend to come in a hurry.

A 49ers drive goes nowhere.

Given a bonus drive by way of the interception, the 49ers were not able to do anything with it. They gained only 17 yards on five plays, with Jimmy Garoppolo being pushed out of bounds for a 4-yard gain on a third-down play where San Francisco had needed 14.

Garoppolo has been effective all game for San Francisco, completing 18 of 22 passes, but he uncorked one stinker on this drive, with his pass sailing across the middle of the field with no receivers anywhere near it. Luckily for the 49ers, no Chiefs players were anywhere near, it either.

After a solid punt with no return, Kansas City has the ball back on its 17-yard line.

Another interception gives the 49ers all the momentum.

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Tarvarius Moore celebrates after a third quarter interception.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

Patrick Mahomes rushed another pass and the 49ers made him pay again. Throwing to Tyreek Hill in traffic was risky, and the ball was knocked into the air, where the second-year safety Tarvarius Moore grabbed it for San Francisco\u2019s second turnover of the game. It was the first interception of Moore\u2019s professional career.

The Chiefs had once again been steadily moving the ball down the field with a series of short plays when defensive tackle DeForest Buckner broke up the momentum with a 9-yard sack in which he spun Mahomes to the ground.

Mahomes recovered from the sack to scramble for a 13-yard gain, setting up a 3rd-and-6. But the ill-fated pass attempt to Hill handed the ball back to San Francisco.

The Chiefs are driving at the start of the fourth quarter.

At the end of the third quarter, the 49ers are leading the Chiefs, 20-10, but Patrick Mahomes has Kansas City moving the ball on a drive that had begun with San Francisco\u2019s defensive line repeatedly pressuring him in the backfield.

The fourth quarter will begin with Kansas City having a first down at its 46-yard line, and while Nick Bosa and the rest of 49ers\u2019 defensive linemen appear to have worn down the Chiefs\u2019 offensive line, Mahomes has yet to seem all that bothered by it beyond throwing the ball away on the first play of the current drive.

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DeForest Buckner misses the tackle on Patrick Mahomes in the third quarter.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

Mahomes has plenty of large comebacks in his career, including in this postseason, so he is sure to turn this game into a fight. But if there is one thing that was stressed among 49ers players and coaches more than anything else this week, it was that Coach Kyle Shanahan will never take his foot off the gas pedal. Not after his Atlanta Falcons blew a 28-3 lead to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl three years ago.

Mostert bursts into the end zone to widen the 49ers\u2019 lead.

Raheem Mostert plowed the ball into the end zone from the 1-yard line and San Francisco, thanks to a crucial interception, is leading Kansas City, 20-10, with 2:35 left in the third quarter.

The 49ers\u2019 defense set up the 55-yard drive when Fred Warner intercepted a pass by Patrick Mahomes, and the 49ers were immediately aggressive, with Jimmy Garoppolo completing a 16-yard pass to Deebo Samuel.

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Kendrick Bourne in the third quarter.Credit...AJ Mast for The New York Times

After two plays went nowhere, Garoppolo found Kendrick Bourne over the middle for a 26-yard gain and a pass to Kyle Juszczyk got San Francisco to the 1-yard line.

They gave the ball to Mostert, Juszczyk delivered a huge block, and the 49ers now have a two-score lead.

The news is not all good for San Francisco, however. Joe Staley, the team\u2019s starting left tackle and its longest-tenured player, is out of the game with a hand injury. His return is questionable.

Mahomes\u2019s mistake gives the ball back to San Francisco.

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Fred Warner, center, intercepted a Patrick Mahomes pass in the third quarter.Credit...AJ Mast for The New York Times

Patrick Mahomes made an absolutely brutal mistake, throwing a pass directly to linebacker Fred Warner for an interception, to hand the ball back to San Francisco shortly after the 49ers had taken the lead.

The Chiefs had just survived a strip-sack fumble in which Nick Bosa was able to slap the ball out of Mahomes\u2019s hand as he streaked past him. Mahomes, looking to make something happen in a game where he has often settled for dinks and dunks, tried to make up for the sack by attempting a deep pass to Tyreek Hill and Warner did not even have to move to snatch the turnover, returning it 3 yards and then celebrating with his teammates by streaking into the end zone for a group photo.

The 49ers offense takes over at their own 45-yard line.

San Francisco gets a field goal and Deebo Samuel sets a record.

San Francisco continued to mix things up with the run and the pass, and after a drive stalled out on the edge of the red zone, they took the lead with a 42-yard field goal by Robbie Gould.

Gould is now a perfect 15 for 15 on career attempts in the postseason, and the 49ers are leading, 13-10.

Jimmy Garoppolo got things started on the drive with two passes to Emmanuel Sanders that combined for 20 yards. Another end-around to Deebo Samuel went for 14 yards, but looked as if it might go for even more when he got a step on a few defenders along the sideline.

With 53 rushing yards, Samuel, a rookie wide receiver who is often used in the running game, has set an N.F.L. record for a wide receiver in a Super Bowl. He broke the previous record of 45, set by Percy Harvin of the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl following the 2013 season.

San Francisco would get one more first down on the drive, with a pass to Kyle Juszczyk, but they were not able to advance past Kansas City\u2019s 24-yard line and needed Gould to bail them out on the drive.

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San Francisco 49ers kicker Robbie Gould scores a field goal in the third quarter.Credit...Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

A-Rod has his own Super Bowl moment.

It was a rough half for Kansas City\u2019s speedy wide receivers.

Kansas City is known for its ultrafast wide receivers, but other than a 28-yard completion to Sammy Watkins, the Chiefs have not had any other pass gain more than 11 yards. The Chiefs\u2019 second-longest play of the first half coming on a 14-yard run by Damien Williams.

To see Patrick Mahomes reduced to a series of short passes was surprising, but San Francisco linebacker Kwon Alexander said during the week that his team had what it took to stand up to fleet wide receivers like Tyreek Hill, Mecole Hardman and Watkins.

\u201cWhat the answer to speed? Speed,\u201d Alexander deadpanned before saying, \u201cNah, the answer to speed is smartness and being on top of your game and doing your job.\u201d

He added: \u201cWhen we go out there we play with each other as a team. We\u2019re going to play fast, run, hit, cover, do whatever we\u2019ve got to do to get this ring.\u201d

With players as fast as Hill, Watkins and Hardman, any catch is a potential touchdown, so there is ample time for Alexander\u2019s words to ring hollow in the second half.

A Spanish-flavored halftime, full of sparkle and spectacle.

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Shakira and Jennifer Lopez joined forces for\u00a0\u201cLet\u2019s Get Loud,\u201d which mingled with \u201cWaka Waka (This Time for Africa).\u201dCredit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

Jennifer Lopez and Shakira restored sparkle and spectacle to the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday night with headlining sets heavy on Latin pride, a year after the pop-rock band Maroon 5 performed an anodyne set with the rapper Travis Scott that seemed to please nobody.

Lopez, 50, took an athletic, dance-heavy spin through hits from her 21-year career in pop music, from \u201cJenny From the Block\u201d to \u201cOn the Floor,\u201d with a guest appearance from the Colombian reggaeton star J Balvin for his track \u201cMi Gente.\u201d Lopez spun atop a pole for \u201cWaiting for Tonight\u201d (showing off skills from her role in \u201cHustlers\u201d) and brought out a children\u2019s chorus for \u201cLet\u2019s Get Loud\u201d that included the singer\u2019s daughter, Emme.

Shakira, 43, likewise reached back through her discography, which began in her native Colombia in the early 1990s and broke through in the United States with her 2001 album \u201cLaundry Service\u201d: \u201cShe Wolf,\u201d \u201cWhenever, Wherever\u201d and \u201cChantaje.\u201d She seized an electric guitar for \u201cEmpire\u201d and crowd-surfed before \u201cHips Don\u2019t Lie.\u201d The Puerto Rican pop sensation Bad Bunny, draped in a silver coat, joined her to perform his verse from Cardi B\u2019s \u201cI Like It.\u201d

At halftime, a tie game is going San Francisco\u2019s way.

At one point in the first half it seemed as if Kansas City might be running away with the game. The Chiefs had taken advantage of a Jimmy Garoppolo interception to kick a field goal, which put Kansas City up by 10-3, and with a Patrick Mahomes-led offense, any lead is a commanding lead.

Undeterred by the early deficit, San Francisco Coach Kyle Shanahan stuck to his run-heavy attack, eventually softening up the Chiefs\u2019 defense to the point where Garoppolo was able to tie the game at 10-10 by throwing to fullback Kyle Juszczyk for a 15-yard catch-and-run.

San Francisco\u2019s defense rewarded Garoppolo\u2019s touchdown pass by forcing a punt on what initially looked like a strong Kansas City drive, and the 49ers looked to be in position to take a lead in the final seconds of the half, when Garoppolo found George Kittle for a long completion in Kansas City territory. But Kittle was flagged for offensive pass interference, which left the game tied 10-10 as the team\u2019s headed into the locker room.

While each team had a turn with momentum, the 49ers ended up with a mild yardage advantage, 178 to 155. The Chiefs, though, largely controlled the clock, having possessed the ball for 17:13 of the half\u2019s 30 minutes.

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San Francisco 49ers running back Raheem Mostert in the second quarter.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

Mahomes is 12 of 18 for 104 yards, running for the Chiefs\u2019 lone touchdown, while San Francisco has accounted for nearly half of its yardage on the ground, with Raheem Mostert, Tevin Coleman and Deebo Samuel combining for 89 yards on 11 carries.

After an extended halftime with a performance by Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, San Francisco will receive the ball to start the second half.

Coming up next: Roc Nation\u2019s big moment.

Kevin Draper is already looking ahead to the halftime show:

A number of musical artists, including Rihanna, reportedly declined to perform during the Super Bowl halftime show last year in support of Colin Kaepernick. In the off-season, the N.F.L. signed a deal for Jay-Z\u2019s entertainment company, Roc Nation, to become the league\u2019s \u201clive music entertainment strategist.\u201d Roc Nation helped recruit Shakira and Jennifer Lopez to perform for this year\u2019s show.

In response to criticism for partnering with the same league that many believe blackballed Kaepernick, Jay-Z said, \u201cWe are two adult men who disagree on the tactic but are marching for the same cause.\u201d Read our story on the Roc Nation and N.F.L. relationship here.

The Chiefs are forced to punt.

In what could be Kansas City\u2019s final drive of the first half, the Chiefs were forced to punt the ball away after a disappointing end to a drive that had started well.

Kansas City had gotten three quick first downs by way of passes to Damien Williams and Blake Bell, and a short run by Williams and then a 10-yard pass to Tyreek Hill.

A Williams run and a sweep by Mecole Hardman then combined for minus-4 yards, and on 3rd-and-14, a short pass to Williams resulted in just a 1-yard gain.

San Francisco will get the ball back on their own 25-yard line following a touchback, with 59 seconds left in the half.

San Francisco ties the score with a pass to a fullback.

Kyle Juszczyk, the 49ers\u2019 throwback of a fullback, took a short pass and rumbled toward the goal line, diving into the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown that along with Robbie Gould\u2019s extra point has this game tied, 10-10.

San Francisco has shown an extreme commitment to the run all postseason, and today is no exception. An 80-yard drive consisted of 38 yards on the ground, with Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman finding scads of room to run against Kansas City\u2019s defense. That softened up the coverage, as the Chiefs tried to compensate against the run, and Jimmy Garoppolo took care of the rest, with passes to Deebo Samuel and Juszczyk accounting for the final 26 yards of the drive.

That Garoppolo seemed so aggressive after having thrown an interception on his previous drive was a welcome sign for San Francisco.

Tumbling in to tie it.

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Kyle Juszczyk diving into the end zone in the second quarter.Credit...AJ Mast for The New York Times

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Credit...AJ Mast for The New York Times

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Credit...AJ Mast for The New York Times

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Credit...AJ Mast for The New York Times

The Chiefs settle for a field goal and a 10-3 lead.

Given a free drive by way of an interception, Patrick Mahomes continued to be aggressive, throwing deep to Sammy Watkins for a 28-yard gain to start the drive and converting a fourth down with an option toss to Damien Williams. But the Chiefs had to settle for a 31-yard field goal by Harrison Butker, which put them ahead by 10-3.

The three plays after the Watkins catch combined for only 9 yards, but the Chiefs, for a second consecutive drive, didn\u2019t let fourth down scare them. Mahomes raced to the sideline before tossing the ball to Williams for a 3-yard gain and the conversion. That was it, however, as two incomplete passes and a short run resulted in a 4th-and-7 at San Francisco\u2019s 13-yard line, which sent out the field goal unit.

A bad decision hands the ball back to the Chiefs.

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Bashaud Breeland intercepts Jimmy Garoppolo in the second quarter.Credit...AJ Mast for The New York Times

The Chiefs are suddenly in terrific shape to start the second quarter after getting the ball back to its offense by way of an interception.

After Deebo Samuel opened the quarter with a short loss on a run, Mike Pennell pressured Jimmy Garoppolo into an ill-advised pass, and cornerback Bashaud Breeland made Garoppolo pay for it by leaping up for an interception.

Kansas City will begin its drive on its own 44-yard line.

Tom Brady\u2019s cryptic message was, of course, an ad.

Ken Belson clears it up:

In an ad for the streaming service Hulu, Tom Brady mocked the concern about his future \u2014 which he stoked last week with a cryptic post to his social media accounts. Hulu leaned into the worries.

Brady can become a free agent next month for the first time in his long career. Patriots fans may fear the worst, with Brady reportedly garnering interest from the Raiders and Chargers. But one thing appears certain: Nobody should be surprised if Brady is playing football next season.

\u201cThey say all good things must come to an end,\u201d Brady said Sunday\u2019s ad while walking into Gillette Stadium, the home of the Patriots. \u201cSo it\u2019s time to say goodbye as TV as we know it.\u201d

Cue anxiety.

\u201cBut me? I\u2019m not going anywhere.\u201d

The Chiefs are leading at end of the first quarter.

The first quarter ended after Jimmy Garoppolo had begun his team\u2019s latest drive with an 18-yard pass to Emmanuel Sanders that got San Francisco to their own 43-yard line.

There were not many surprises in the opening quarter, with San Francisco moving the ball well on the ground and Kansas City surviving a few passes from Patrick Mahomes that missed their mark thanks to a surprising start from Damien Williams, who already has 32 rushing yards.

The game has yet to have a turnover and the Chiefs have a mild advantage in time of possession: 8:31 to 6:29.

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Patrick Mahomes scores the first touchdown of the game, giving Kansas City a 7-3 lead.Credit...Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

Mahomes runs for a touchdown and a 7-3 lead.

Showing a quick burst with his legs, Patrick Mahomes ran the ball in from 1 yard, putting Kansas City ahead, 7-3, with 31 seconds left in the first quarter.

The drive had been extended thanks to the Chiefs\u2019 showing some aggressiveness on fourth down, going for it on 4th-and-1 from the San Francisco 5-yard line with a direct snap run to Damien Williams. Mahomes\u2019s touchdown run was the prize for that decision.

Over and over on the drive, Mahomes got the Chiefs most of the way to a first down with a pass, and Damien Williams picked up the rest of the yardage with a run.

Once Kansas City got into the red zone, San Francisco got its first sack of the game, with DeForest Buckner and Earl Mitchell tracking Mahomes down for a 1-yard loss.

Two plays later, when no options presented themselves, Mahomes raced up the right side of the field for a 10-yard gain, fumbling the ball out of bounds at the end of the play thanks to a huge hit by Jimmie Ward, who was briefly injured on the play.

It looked like Ward\u2019s hit, which stopped Mahomes just short of a first down, had forced Kansas City to settle for a field goal, but after Coach Andy Reid had a change of heart, pulling his kicking team off the field, the Chiefs got their first lead of the day.

The longest play of the 75-yard drive went for just 14 yards.

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Chiefs running back Damien Williams (26) cutting through the 49ers defense.Credit...Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

No, those aren\u2019t flags on every play.

From Kevin Draper, who is seeing the same thing you\u2019re seeing:

If you think there is a flag being thrown on every 49ers offensive possession, well, you\u2019re not alone, as a number of Chiefs defensive players are wearing bright yellow gloves. They aren\u2019t new for the Super Bowl; players like Tyrann Mathieu and Jason Kelce have worn them all season, as have players on a number of other teams. There doesn\u2019t seem to be any football reasons for the color, just fashion ones.

San Francisco scores first, and leads by 3-0.

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San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel in the first quarter.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

Robbie Gould\u2019s 38-yard field goal has the 49ers ahead, 3-0, with 7:57 left in the first quarter.

The 49ers had got exactly the start they wanted to open their first drive, before eventually stalling out.

After a run to start the drive went for a 1-yard loss, George Kittle picked up a first down with an 11-yard catch.

That got the Chiefs on their heels, which set up one of San Francisco\u2019s signature deceptive running plays. The ball was pitched to wide receiver Deebo Samuel, who took the ball on a sweep and raced down the sideline for a 32-yard gain.

After a few runs by Tevin Coleman, who is back after dislocating his shoulder in the N.F.C. championship game, they ran another deception play, with Samuel looking to pass before running up the middle for a first down.

The drive was extended after a dropped third-down pass thanks to Frank Clark\u2019s being whistled for offside, but it ultimately stalled out, ending in Gould\u2019s field goal.

San Francisco went 62 yards on 10 plays and took 5:58 off the clock.

The Chiefs stall on their first drive.

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Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes went nowhere on his first drive.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

Kansas City\u2019s first drive went nowhere, and the 49ers officially look brilliant for deferring on the kickoff.

After Mitch Wishnowsky\u2019s kickoff was returned 29 yards by Mecole Hardman, Kansas City started its first drive of the game at their own 26-yard line.

They started off well with a 7-yard run by Damien Williams, but Patrick Mahomes then threw two incomplete passes, resulting in a three-and-out.

The 49ers win the coin toss.

San Francisco won the coin toss with Richard Sherman\u2019s call of tails and the team deferred the choice. As a result, Kansas City will start with the ball and will defend the west end zone. (That directional makes more sense if you\u2019re in the stadium but you\u2019ll get the hang of it.)

The 49ers will receive the ball to start the second half.

Kickoff is expected at 6:39 p.m. Eastern.

A soccer star at the Super Bowl.

Demi Lovato performs the national anthem.

The singer Demi Lovato performed a stirring version of the national anthem, drawing huge cheers in Hard Rock Stadium, and if people bet on the length, it appeared to come in around 1 minute 50 seconds.

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Demi Lovato sings and Christine Sun Kim signs the National Anthem.Credit...Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

Dwayne Johnson introduces both teams. One 49er was extra delighted.

The wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson handled introductions for both teams, skipping past listing every name and just going with the stars. But Johnson, who was known as the People\u2019s Champion in his W.W.E. career, gave a special shoutout to George Kittle of the 49ers, whom he referred to as \u201cthe People\u2019s tight end.\u201d

During the week, Kittle talked repeatedly about the thrill of meeting Johnson when they worked on the planning and filming of the introductions, saying his \u201cheart was racing\u201d when he found himself \u201cchest to chest\u201d with his favorite wrestler.

Kittle\u2019s love of wrestling runs deep. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, one of Kittle\u2019s best friends on the team, said he would not be surprised if Kittle retires to a career in professional wrestling some day.

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Kansas City Chiefs offensive tackle Cameron Erving runs out to the field with his teammates.Credit...Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

Everyone is in red, but it sounds like a Chiefs crowd.

From Kevin Draper:

The Chiefs should feel at home here in South Florida, as the Super Bowl crowd is overwhelmingly pro-Kansas City. Every time a Chiefs player entered the field for pregame warm-ups the crowd roared. The 49ers \u2014 with the exception of Jerry Rice when he was announced as part of the NFL 100 team \u2014 were greeted with boos. (Bill Belichick got more boos than anyone, but that\u2019s hardly a surprise in Miami.)

Walking around the stadium concourse, Patrick Mahomes jerseys dominated, though there also is a sizable Travis Kelce contingent. San Francisco fans are primarily wearing Jimmy Garoppolo\u2019s No. 10 and Nick Bosa\u2019s No. 97.

Vivid Seats, an online ticket marketplace, estimated the crowd would be 63 percent Chiefs fans to 37 percent 49ers fans, but in the stadium it certainly seems more pro-Kansas City than that.

Though it can be difficult to tell visually because both teams wear red.

Teams honor Kobe Bryant by lining up on 24-yard lines.

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Demarcus Robinson paid tribute to Kobe Bryant with custom cleats as he and his teammates lined up on the 24-yard line to honor Bryant, the Lakers star who died last week.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

To honor Kobe Bryant, the basketball legend who died along with eight others in a helicopter crash last week, the players for both the 49ers and the Chiefs lined up on the 24-yard lines and took part in a moment of silence shortly before 6 p.m. at Hard Rock Stadium. The 24 was a reference to one of Bryant\u2019s jersey numbers.

Bryant\u2019s imprint on players \u2014 particularly San Francisco\u2019s Richard Sherman \u2014 was apparent all week, as many reflected on what Bryant\u2019s so-called Mamba Mentality had meant to them and how his death had affected them.

Sherman, who first met Bryant at a Nike photo shoot during Sherman\u2019s time with the Seattle Seahawks, arrived at the stadium today wearing Bryant\u2019s No. 8 jersey from the 2004 N.B.A. All-Star game. Bryant wore No. 8 for 11 of his N.B.A. seasons and No. 24 for 9.

\u201cHe was a friend of mine,\u201d Sherman said at Monday\u2019s Super Bowl Opening Night event. \u201cHe was a mentor. He meant a lot to this world. He had a positive impact and there\u2019s nothing that I can say that can quantify his impact on myself and others.\u201d

While many players discussed Bryant as a role model for them, Sherman\u2019s connection ran deeper, based on their friendship. Sherman described Bryant\u2019s influence as having affected a decision he made at the lowest point of his career.

\u201cI guess my biggest Mamba Mentality moment of my career was getting up from a torn Achilles and walking off the field,\u201d Sherman said. \u201cI saw him do it. I saw him make two free throws and walk off with a torn Achilles, and once I tore mine, I knew I had to walk off.\u201d

In announcing the moment of silence, the N.F.L. also dedicated it to the Pro Football Hall of Famer Chris Doleman, who died on Tuesday.

The Art of Not Letting Up

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If the 49ers win today, Mike Shanahan, left, and Kyle Shanahan would be the first father and son to win Super Bowls as head coaches.Credit...Matt York/Associated Press

If the 49ers build a big lead in today\u2019s game, do not expect San Francisco Coach Kyle Shanahan to let up for a second. The \u201cscars\u201d of a collapse in which one of his former teams, the Atlanta Falcons, gave up a 28-3 fourth quarter lead to lose a Super Bowl still linger

Both he and his players described a certain level of paranoia about finishing games well, which Shanahan freely admitted was a result of the Falcons\u2019 having blown such an enormous lead against the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl that followed the 2016 season \u2014 the last season before Shanahan joined the 49ers.

\u201cI think anyone can learn a lot of stuff from that game,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cI mean, no matter how much you get up on someone, you\u2019ve got to keep moving the chains to keep the ball from going back.\u201d

Shanahan said at the end of his team\u2019s 27-10 divisional round win over Minnesota he \u201cfreaked out\u201d because Robert Saleh, his defensive coordinator, had pulled his starters with a 17-point lead in the final two minutes.

\u201cOh my god, he almost killed us,\u201d said Richard Sherman, San Francisco\u2019s veteran cornerback.

Sherman said the Vikings had completed two passes and converted one first down when Shanahan had seen enough.

\u201cHe was like: \u2018What the heck is going on? Get them back in there,\u2019\u201d Sherman said. \u201cMy gloves were off, I was about to ice my knees, and it was like, \u2018Get your gloves back on.\u2019\u201d

Jimmy Garoppolo, the 49ers\u2019 starting quarterback \u2014 and a backup on the New England team that came back to beat Shanahan\u2019s Falcons \u2014 did not see anything odd about his coach\u2019s unwillingness to let that happen again.

\u201cI think that\u2019s just a good head coach,\u201d he said. \u201cYou kind of want to have that because in this league crazy things can happen. I mean, 28-3, we all saw that one. You always have to be ready, so I like that mentality.\u201d

If you\u2019re just tuning in, you have plenty of company.

From a Fox Sports executive:

Super Bowl inactives: LeSean McCoy among those out

The Chiefs are officially sticking with Damien Williams at running back, with the veteran LeSean McCoy headlining Kansas City\u2019s list of inactive players for today\u2019s game.

McCoy, a six-time Pro Bowler, gained just 465 yards in his first season in Kansas City. Coach Andy Reid repeatedly said his team had no injuries to report this week, but McCoy, who was rested even when healthy during the regular season, is being left out of what would have been his first Super Bowl.

While not surprising, the most significant inactive for Kansas City is guard Andrew Wylie, who has not played since Week 15 because of ankle and shoulder injuries. Steven Wisniewski will continue to fill in as the team\u2019s starting left guard.

The 49ers\u2019 list of inactives is mostly bench players, with wide receiver Dante Pettis being the most prominent player who will not be suiting up.

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San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo warming up before the game.Credit...AJ Mast for The New York Times

This year\u2019s Super Bowl ads: politics, gags and drag queens.

Tiffany Hsu of The Times wrote about the commercial onslaught we can expect today:

More than 80 ads will play in the commercial breaks of today\u2019s game, including campaign spots from a billionaire president and a billionaire presidential candidate, safe humor and visual gags from T-Mobile and Reese\u2019s, and flashbacks to the 1980s (MC Hammer, Molly Ringwald and Winona Ryder all make appearances).

The commercials will hit the usual beats, with a tear-jerker from Google, a jumble of celebrities from Hard Rock and a cute dog named Scout from WeatherTech. But there will also be several firsts, including a debut from Facebook featuring Chris Rock and Sylvester Stallone. A spot from Sabra hummus most likely has the first appearance of drag queens in a Super Bowl commercial, in a banner year for L.G.B.T. representation.

Other notable ads will include a spot from the N.F.L. about police shootings, a subject it has struggled to address amid protests in recent years by the former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Have you seen this trophy?

The Brunswick-Balke-Collender Cup, given to the first pro football champions, is the holy grail of American sports memorabilia. It\u2019s also missing, and has been since almost as soon as it was awarded to the Akron Pros in 1920.

Bill Pennington of The Times spent months trying to track it down. He writes:

It could be in someone\u2019s attic or chock-full of pencils on a schoolkid\u2019s desk.

\u201cAt this point, the chances are not very good that anyone will ever find it,\u201d Joe Horrigan, the former longtime executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

It sounded like a challenge.

And so began the mission to solve this whodunit, this where-is-it, a quest that hinged on finding that person who, when shown the only existing, shadowy photo of the trophy, would say: \u201cI\u2019ve seen that. My mother uses it as a doorstop.\u201d

It was a journey that meant knocking on doors, poring over library collections, tracking down interview subjects in 12 states and spending at least one dusty afternoon searching behind the drywall of several abandoned Ohio buildings.

Bill\u2019s article on the search is quite a tale. You\u2019ll love it.

Bieniemy and Saleh: assistant coaches still waiting for a call.

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Eric Bieniemy is in his second season as Kansas City\u2019s offensive coordinator.Credit...Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

The N.F.L. has frequently faced criticism for its inability to elevate people of color to head coaching positions, and the league\u2019s Rooney Rule has often been described as insufficient. Currently there are only four head coaches of color in the league, a list that might have grown longer if two high-profile coordinators had not been so busy coaching this game.

While Eric Bieniemy, the offensive coordinator of the Chiefs, and Robert Saleh, the defensive coordinator of the 49ers, were both mentioned as top candidates for nearly every head coaching vacancy, they were both left standing once all the seats were filled. Of the five jobs that changed hands, only one went to a person of color: Ron Rivera, who is Hispanic, was hired by the Washington Redskins.

With no remaining vacancies, Bieniemy, who is black, and Saleh, who is Arab-American, probably will have to wait another year for their first head-coaching jobs. That has caused mixed feelings for the people they work with.

Coach Andy Reid of the Chiefs said that he is Bieniemy\u2019s biggest fan, and that he already considers his prot\u00e9g\u00e9 to be a head coach.

\u201cI really don\u2019t think he needs to work on anything to become a head football coach,\u201d Reid said. \u201cI think he\u2019s ready to go. He just needs that opportunity to get in and go.\u201d

John Lynch, the general manager of the 49ers, expressed similar sentiments about Saleh, who won a Super Bowl as a quality control coach with Seattle on his way through the coaching ranks before rising to defensive coordinator with San Francisco in 2017.

\u201cThere\u2019s a side of you that is disappointed for a friend,\u201d Lynch said. \u201cThere is a side of you that\u2019s like: \u2018Yes! We get him for another year!\u2019\u201d

George Kittle and football\u2019s \u2018best possible feeling.\u2019

George Kittle, the 49ers\u2019 third-year tight end, seems to save his best work for overmatched players in the opposing team\u2019s secondary. And he admits that is by design.

Kittle\u2019s most important play against a defensive back this season came in Week 14, when he dragged his team into range for a winning field goal against the New Orleans Saints despite Marcus Williams, a safety, hanging on for dear life from Kittle\u2019s face mask. But Kittle\u2019s most fun play of the season \u2014 at least from his perspective \u2014 came during a Week 15 loss to the Atlanta Falcons when he demolished a cornerback on a goal-line run \u2014 and was filmed laughing maniacally while rolling around in the end zone.

It was a scoreless game early in the second quarter when the 49ers lined up at Atlanta\u2019s 2-yard line for a running play and Kittle, who stands 6 feet 4 inches and weighs 250 pounds, saw that the only player in front of him was Ricardo Allen, a 5-9, 186-pound cornerback. Kittle said defensive backs often take cheap shots at larger players in the open field, but that this situation gave an enormous advantage to the offensive player.

\u201cI\u2019m in a 3-point stance and I know it\u2019s a run play,\u201d Kittle said, recalling the moment before the snap. \u201cHe\u2019s going to get absolutely all of my effort on a run play, and he doesn\u2019t know if it\u2019s a pass or a run and he doesn\u2019t know if he needs to be physical with me.\u201d

Kittle said his laughter was the result of thinking about how much fun it would be to watch film of the play. He described what happened \u2014 what\u2019s know as a pancake block \u2014 as the \u201cbest possible feeling in football.\u201d

As Kittle, a huge fan of professional wrestling and one of the game\u2019s more boisterous characters told Ben Shpigel for a story about the 49ers\u2019 running game: \u201cYou take a guy, you drive him backward, you put him on his back and you feel the exhale of his breath and he loses his wind. It\u2019s kind of snatching his soul.\u201d

Tyrann Mathieu embraces his nickname. Sometimes.

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In his first season with the Chiefs, Tyrann Mathieu, center, helped give the team a defense worth of its offense.Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

The Chiefs\u2019 defense went through a drastic makeover last off-season. Justin Houston left via free agency, Dee Ford was traded to San Francisco, Eric Berry was out of football \u2014 yet Kansas City\u2019s defense showed significant improvement.

The biggest reason for the uptick was Tyrann Mathieu, the All-Pro safety known to many fans as the Honey Badger.

Mathieu earned that nickname during his time at Louisiana State for his wild demeanor on and off the field, but this past week he expressed some unease with the persona.

\u201cI feel like I got caught up in that Honey Badger character and it began to consume me,\u201d he said.

A calmer, gentler, more mature Mathieu was all over the field in his first season in Kansas City, piling up 70 tackles, four interceptions and two sacks while being named first-time All-Pro for the second time. His ability to contribute against the run and the pass helped paper over some of his team\u2019s defensive shortcomings.

Coach Andy Reid said Mathieu was everything the team wanted and more, describing the seven-year veteran as a great leader, while acknowledging that the Honey Badger character was not entirely gone.

\u201cWe just unlock the cage and let the Badger out on game day,\u201d Reid joked. \u201cHe loves playing, man. I mean he brings it every play. He does it in practice. He does it in the game. He\u2019s fun to be around.\u201d

In the zone: Patrick Mahomes, and others, are on the field.

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Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes warms up before the game.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

A matchup with history, tradition and star power

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. \u2014 Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce and Tyrann Mathieu. Jimmy Garoppolo, Raheem Mostert, George Kittle and Nick Bosa. In a Super Bowl that is predicted by oddsmakers to be among the closest in league history, there is no shortage of stars who may reach the next level of fame by leading their team to an N.F.L. championship today.

While the game is not quite the offense versus defense narrative that some have tried to sell \u2014 San Francisco actually scored more points than Kansas City this season, and the Chiefs allowed fewer than the 49ers \u2014 it is still a fascinating matchup of the 49ers, a team that built itself on a well-balanced attack on both sides of the ball, and the Chiefs, who have tried to find the right complementary pieces to give Mahomes, their star quarterback, the support he needs to realize his sky-high potential.

The story lines in this game are plentiful and have led to a collective shrug about which team is actually the underdog. Officially, the Chiefs are favored by either 1 or 1.5 points, depending on where you look.

Kansas City, which played in two of the first four Super Bowls, is back in the game for the first time since Len Dawson led the Chiefs to a win over the Minnesota Vikings after the 1969 season. The team\u2019s 50-year gap between appearances set a record, and it was largely defined by the franchise\u2019s inability to find a quarterback. The Chiefs used a first-round pick on the game\u2019s most important position only four times in that 50 years, failing badly with Pete Beathard (1964), Steve Fuller (1976) and Todd Blackledge (1983) before finally scoring with Mahomes in 2017.

The 49ers, who built a dynasty with Joe Montana in the 1980s, had it continue seamlessly with Steve Young in the 1990s, and briefly appeared to have found a next-generation quarterback in Colin Kaepernick in the 2010s, appeared in six Super Bowls in those 50 years, winning five of them. And they became something of a quarterback factory for the Chiefs, with Steve DeBerg, Montana, Steve Bono, Elvis Grbac and Alex Smith all starting in San Francisco before ending up in Kansas City.

As ridiculous as that quarterback connection is, it may be trumped by the parallels between the starting left tackles in today\u2019s game. San Francisco\u2019s Joe Staley and Kansas City\u2019s Eric Fisher were both first-round picks out of Central Michigan \u2014 the only first-round picks in Chippewa history \u2014 and they both went through radical physical and positional transformations in college, gaining 75 pounds or more to get ready to compete at the pro level.

Both teams feature All-Pro tight ends in George Kittle (San Francisco) and Travis Kelce (Kansas City), and both defenses have wildly talented veteran leaders in their secondary in Richard Sherman (San Francisco) and Mathieu.

The places where they differ are quarterback, where Mahomes is a much more explosive player than Garoppolo, and defensive line, where San Francisco\u2019s gaggle of five former first-round picks, led by a dominant rookie in Bosa, is more ferocious than anything Kansas City\u2019s defense can offer.

Benjamin Hoffman is a senior editor in sports and a regular contributor to the Keeping Score column. He joined The Times in 2004. More about Benjamin Hoffman

Inside the World of Sports

Dive deeper into the people, issues and trends shaping professional, collegiate and amateur athletics.

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Gone Wild: Most defunct golf courses get paved over. But a number are getting transformed into ecological life rafts for wildlife, plants and people.
The Gift of Soccer: Sheffield, England, gave soccer to the world, according to local amateur historians. Now the English city wants credit.
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San Francisco 49ers

Kansas City Chiefs

J. Garoppolo

P. Mahomes

R. Mostert

D. Williams

K. Bourne

T. Hill

Video Highlights

Suggs: Mahomes has 'it'

Kelce: We weren't gonna be stopped tonight

Young: The 49ers had it but they didn't run the football

Mahomes leads Chiefs' rally past 49ers in Super Bowl, 31-20

1st Quarter

2nd Quarter

3rd Quarter

4th Quarter

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Source: Jets release G Laken Tomlinson as part of OL rebuild

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Here\u2019s what you need to know:

Williams scores again. That\u2019ll do it.

A turnover on downs has Kansas City in control.

Patrick Mahomes inexplicably has the Chiefs leading.

The 49ers throw away a drive.

Kelce\u2019s touchdown catch makes it a one-score game.

Does Mahomes have another comeback in him?

A 49ers drive goes nowhere.

Another interception gives the 49ers all the momentum.

The Chiefs are driving at the start of the fourth quarter.

Mostert bursts into the end zone to widen the 49ers\u2019 lead.

Mahomes\u2019s mistake gives the ball back to San Francisco.

San Francisco gets a field goal and Deebo Samuel sets a record.

A-Rod has his own Super Bowl moment.

It was a rough half for Kansas City\u2019s speedy wide receivers.

A Spanish-flavored halftime, full of sparkle and spectacle.

At halftime, a tie game is going San Francisco\u2019s way.

Coming up next: Roc Nation\u2019s big moment.

The Chiefs are forced to punt.

San Francisco ties the score with a pass to a fullback.

Tumbling in to tie it.

The Chiefs settle for a field goal and a 10-3 lead.

A bad decision hands the ball back to the Chiefs.

Tom Brady\u2019s cryptic message was, of course, an ad.

The Chiefs are leading at end of the first quarter.

Mahomes runs for a touchdown and a 7-3 lead.

No, those aren\u2019t flags on every play.

San Francisco scores first, and leads by 3-0.

The Chiefs stall on their first drive.

The 49ers win the coin toss.

A soccer star at the Super Bowl.

Demi Lovato performs the national anthem.

Dwayne Johnson introduces both teams. One 49er was extra delighted.

Everyone is in red, but it sounds like a Chiefs crowd.

Teams honor Kobe Bryant by lining up on 24-yard lines.

The Art of Not Letting Up

If you\u2019re just tuning in, you have plenty of company.

Super Bowl inactives: LeSean McCoy among those out

This year\u2019s Super Bowl ads: politics, gags and drag queens.

Have you seen this trophy?

Bieniemy and Saleh: assistant coaches still waiting for a call.