Sin City Retrospective – How Vegas Handled The Super Bowl

LAS VEGAS, NV – It feels like every decade in the NFL, a dynasty rises to define the decade that they’re in. The Steel Curtain in the 70s. The dominant Cowboys in the 90s. Tom Brady and the Patriots in the 2000s and 2010s.

As we enter the 2020s, New England’s time in the spotlight has vanished and the Kansas City Chiefs have taken their place. After winning Super Bowl LIV in 2020 and LVII last year, Kansas City has done the unthinkable and has repeated as Super Bowl champions, taking down the San Francisco 49ers in an overtime thriller that might be one of the best games ever played.

A lot has been achieved this past week. An NFL team won back-to-back championships for the first time in two decades. A Super Bowl went into overtime for the second time ever. Also, this was the first time the big game was played in fabulous Las Vegas. No matter where you looked, the week leading up to Super Bowl LVIII was extra special.

A City Defined By Big Moments

For a city in the United States to host the Super Bowl, there are a few requirements that the NFL officially and unofficially mandates.

1. Your city needs to have an active NFL team. (Sorry San Diego)
2. Your city needs to have enough hotel space for the hundreds of thousands of people who travel to the city.
3. Your city needs to have a state-of-the-art stadium with plenty of modern-day amenities.
4. Your city needs to have favorable weather. (Sometimes Rule 3 overtakes Rule 4 such as in New York and Minnesota)

With all of that said Las Vegas was a near-perfect venue for the Super Bowl almost out of principle alone. When the Oakland Raiders abandoned their city in 2020 and moved into Sin City at Allegiant Stadium, a brand new, billion-dollar stadium that’s a skip and hop away from The Strip.

Hotel space was never an issue as the city is defined by the numerous luxury resorts and casinos on The Strip and the surrounding roads. And as far as weather goes, every day following Tuesday was sunny and in the mid-40s.

Lastly, Las Vegas knows how to put on a show. This is only one of many big-time events that call the city home, along with the relatively new F1 track not that far away.

Leading Up To The Super Bowl

Getting into Vegas on Tuesday, the city was already plastered with Super Bowl decorations left and right. As soon as you went to grab your bag at Harry Reid International Airport, Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy had their faces plastered everywhere.

That same day, I went from New York, New York to Mandalay Bay for the NFL media festivities. With some roads near the stadium closed as the NFL installed a “campus” outside the stadium for extra security, traffic took a major hit. Nonetheless, rideshare seemed to be the way to go.

At the Mandalay Bay Convention Center were the NFL Media Center, Radio Row, and the Super Bowl Experience; all of which were only a short walk away from each other.

At the Media Center was a host of booths and setups for NFL sponsors and other aspects of the game, including the following:

– Las Vegas Committee, which organized this year’s Super Bowl festivities.

– Detroit Committee, which will organize this year’s NFL Draft in late April.

– New Orleans Committee, which will organize next year’s Super Bowl.

All in all, that whole center was home to everything you had to do leading up to the Super Bowl, defined by its proximity to Allegiant Stadium. With events and parties everywhere you looked, it was incredibly difficult to not find entertainment the whole week leading up to the game.

As far as fans go, it felt like there were way more Chiefs fans who got to Vegas around Monday-Thursday, but the 49ers faithful seemed to make their way from Friday-Saturday to make it feel like a 50/50 split.

On To The Game Itself

The Super Bowl proved to be an absolute classic despite a relatively slow start. The first quarter flew by as both defenses didn’t give up big plays. San Francisco looked to have a groove in their first drive but a fumble by Christian McCaffrey, his first of the season, stopped them dead in their tracks. From there on out, three straight punts closed out the quarter quickly – a bit surprising considering the high-powered offenses this game provided.

Quarter #2 provided some Super Bowl history for the time being. To cap off a solid drive in the first quarter, 49ers kicker Jake Moody landed a 55-yard field goal, the longest in the history of the big game.

After a deep interception by Patrick Mahomes and three straight punts, San Francisco finally found some rhythm thanks to their playmakers, like wide receiver Deebo Samuel and McCaffrey. What got them their first score was a reverse to Juauan Jennings who threw to an open McCaffrey who ran it in with the help of some blockers for a 21-yard score.

It seems like Mahomes and the Chiefs tend to play their best when down double-digits. He stayed accurate and time conservative as the clock winded down, and set up kicker Harrison Butker for a chip-shot field goal to at least give them some points. 10-3 isn’t exactly high-octane action, but it’s nice to see a close, competitive game.

Yeah!

One performance by Usher later, and the second half almost felt like a repeat of what we saw to begin the game. After another turnover,  (This one being another Mahomes interception) three straight punts ate up most of the clock, and this game was starting to wrap up early.

With nine minutes to go in the third, Isaiah Pacheco started to make more of an impact on offense and helped the Chiefs get by the 49ers’ defense until they reached their side of the field. But that previous record was shattered when Butker nailed a 57-yarder to claim the all-time Super Bowl record for himself and cut the 49ers lead to 10-6.

But the turning point for this game, what at this point felt like was controlled by San Francisco, was on a punt by the Chiefs. During the punt, the ball bounced off a 49ers player making it a live ball, and Kansas City recovered inside the red zone. One deep right pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling later, and the Chiefs had their first lead of the game.

The fourth quarter provided big play after big play and turned out to be what many thought the entire game would be like. It consisted of a 49ers touchdown to respond, then three straight field goals to close out the quarter with both teams tied at 19 each. For the first time since Super Bowl 51 in 2017, the big game was not decided in regulation.

Something to note is that overtime rules in the postseason differ from the regular season as they were altered following the 2021 season. The game doesn’t end when the first team with the ball scores a touchdown. The second team will have a shot at the ball regardless of whatever the first team does.

This proved the case as the 49ers won the coin toss and elected to receive. They found some success with quick passes left and right, aided early with a holding call, but they could not bet by the Chiefs defensive line in the red zone and had to settle for a field goal.

As it would turn out, this was their death wish. Giving Mahomes the ball with a shot to bring home the championship is never a good idea, and San Francisco found this out the hard way. After converting an early 4th and 1, the Chiefs eventually found themselves in Niners territory. A 19-yard scramble by Mahomes put them in a nice position, and then a nice rush by Travis Kelce put them in a nice position – three yards away from the end zone.

With the clock winding down and a second overtime impending, the rest is history. A quick throw running right was caught by Mecole Hardman, just inside the end zone, for a walk-off score to net the Chiefs their fourth Super Bowl in franchise history.

What Did We Learn?

Just like that, another NFL season is in the books. Las Vegas nailed it as a host city and will likely be granted the Super Bowl again as soon as it’s available. (Next year it’s in New Orleans, then San Francisco, then Los Angeles. After that, it’s up for a bid.) It’s a city that most people knew would make for an obvious host city, and there weren’t many aspects that it didn’t do great in leading up to the game.

The Chiefs were doubted by many entering the playoffs as they seemed to be a team that was fading, even after winning a Super Bowl the year prior. With the media circulating the high amount of dropped passes by their wide receivers all season, along with the relationship with Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, that didn’t stop them.

They didn’t let all of this deter them. They just happened to play their best football in the postseason when it matters the most.

For the Miami Dolphins, it turned out to be another disappointing year, all things considered. With one of the best offenses the team has potentially ever had, they outscored opponents left and right, with the peak being a 70-point thrashing of Denver. If Miami didn’t score 30 points in a game, then it was a shocking game for them.

But when they needed to play their best football in December, they laid an egg and proceeded to be a first-round exit. They gave up 56 points to Baltimore, gave up the game to Buffalo, and essentially handed them the AFC East, then only scored seven points against the Chiefs in the first round.

In fairness to the offense, the defense didn’t do them any favors as they suffered through major injuries as key players like Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb suffered season-ending injuries. But regardless, it felt like another disappointing ending to an otherwise incredible season.

There’s always next year.