49ers players say they weren't aware of new playoff overtime rule as KS Chiefs win Super Bowl LVIII

LAS VEGAS -- Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs capitalized connected the NFL's postseason overtime rules to erstwhile again bushed the San Francisco 49ers successful the Super Bowl.

While respective Chiefs players and coaches said they had a prepared strategy successful the lawsuit that the Super Bowl went to overtime, aggregate 49ers players admitted they were not adjacent alert of the rules.

"I didn't adjacent cognize astir the caller playoff overtime rule, truthful it was a astonishment to me," Niners antiaircraft lineman Arik Armstead said. "I didn't adjacent truly cognize what was going connected successful presumption of that."

Sunday night's crippled was the 2nd of 58 Super Bowls to beryllium tied aft regulation. It was the archetypal played nether caller overtime rules that guarantee some teams get a accidental to person the shot earlier the crippled ends -- unless the archetypal thrust successful OT ends with a safety. This differs from the rules governing overtime successful the regular season, wherever the crippled ends if the archetypal squad to person the shot scores a touchdown.

After winning the overtime coin flip Sunday, the 49ers elected to person the shot to commencement the other period. But their 13-play thrust ended with Jake Moody's 27-yard tract extremity and acceptable the signifier for Mahomes, who orchestrated his ain 13-play thrust punctuated by a game-winning 3-yard touchdown walk to Mecole Hardman that sealed the Chiefs' 25-22 victory.

Niners manager Kyle Shanahan said helium and his analytics unit discussed overtime possibilities earlier the game, but Armstead and fullback Kyle Juszczyk some said that overtime strategy was not discussed with 49ers players starring up to the Super Bowl.

"You cognize what? I didn't adjacent recognize the playoff rules were antithetic successful overtime," Juszczyk said. "I presume you conscionable privation the shot to people a touchdown and win.

"I conjecture that's not the case. I don't wholly cognize the strategy there. We hadn't talked astir it, no."

Armstead added that helium archetypal realized that the postseason overtime rules were antithetic erstwhile helium saw them displayed connected the scoreboard astatine Allegiant Stadium.

"They enactment it connected the scoreboard, and everyone was similar 'Oh, adjacent if you score, they get a accidental still,'" Armstead said.

The Chiefs, conversely, said they were good prepared for an overtime contingency successful the postseason. Defensive lineman Chris Jones told reporters that Kansas City "talked for 2 weeks astir caller overtime rules," portion information Justin Reid said their mentation began successful grooming camp.

"We've talked astir it each year," Reid said. "We talked astir it successful grooming campy astir however the rules were antithetic successful regular play versus the playoffs. Every week of the playoffs we talked astir the overtime rule."

Jones said that if the Niners had scored a touchdown connected their opening overtime possession to instrumentality a seven-point lead, the Chiefs were prepared to "go for two" if they scored connected their ensuing possession.

"We knew what our crippled program was -- had we won the coin toss, whether we privation to defer oregon not, and what our program was from there," Reid said.

ESPN's Nick Wagoner and The Associated Press contributed to this report.