MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Each team scored a touchdown and a field goal as the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers went to halftime tied at 10 in Super Bowl LIV on Sunday. It was only the fourth halftime tie in Super Bowl history.
The 49ers took an early 3-0 lead, driving from their own 18 to the Kansas City 20 after the Chiefs went three-and-out on their first possession. Robbie Gould kicked a 38-yard field goal with 7:57 to play in the first quarter. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel ran for 39 yards on two plays for first downs in the drive.
Kansas City answered with two scoring drives. A 15-play, 75-yard possession drive that took 7:26 off the clock culminated with quarterback Patrick Mahomes running 1 yard for a touchdown and a 7-3 Chiefs lead with 31 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Two plays earlier, running back Damien Williams ran 4 yards to the 1 on a fourth-and-1 conversion.
San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was pressured by defensive tackle Chris Jones and made an ill-advised throw that was intercepted by Chiefs cornerback Bashaud Breeland at the Kansas City 45-yard line.
After a 28-yard pass play from Mahomes to wide receiver Sammy Watkins and another fourth-and-1 success by Williams, Kansas City settled for a 31-yard field goal by Harrison Butker and a 10-3 lead with 9:32 to play in the first half.
This time it was San Francisco’s turn to answer, driving 80 yards in seven plays to tie the game at 10. Samuel had a catch-and-run for 16 yards and another reception for 11 leading to a 15-yard scoring pass from Garoppolo to fullback Kyle Juszczyk.
On the next-to-last play of the half, there were boos when 49ers tight end George Kittle was penalized for offensive pass interference on a pass play from the Chiefs’ 45-yard line that would have moved the 49ers to the Chiefs’ 14-yard line with six seconds remaining. San Francisco then took a knee to end the half.
–By Howard Balzer, Field Level Media
