49ers Fans Left Fuming Again: Questionable Call in Super Bowl 59 Revives Painful Memories
For the San Francisco 49ers, watching the Super Bowl from home after going so close to winning it last season was never likely to be a pleasurable experience.
And some bad memories were stirred up as early as the first series of the Super Bowl 59 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles looked to have converted on fourth down with a 32-yard connection down the right sideline from Jalen Hurts to A.J. Brown, only for the play to be called back because of an extremely questionable offensive pass interference penalty against Philadelphia’s wide receiver.
Brown was adjudged to have interfered with Trent McDuffie when he briefly put his hand on the Chiefs cornerback’s facemark while the ball was still in the air.
On replay, it appeared to be a very soft call, and one that evoked memories of a very similar call against 49ers tight end George Kittle in the second quarter of the first of their two Super Bowl losses to the Chiefs.
With 14 seconds remaining in a tie game, Kittle looked to have put the 49ers inside the 15-yard line on a 42-yard reception from Jimmy Garoppolo, only for him to be flagged for OPI following what appeared to be a slight push off on Nick Sorensen.
That too seemed a soft call on replay, and prevented the 49ers from at least kicking a field goal to break the tie as their final drive of the half ended without points.
Philadelphia’s drive also ended without points as a result of the penalty on Brown, but the Eagles saw the calls evened out on their next offensive series as McDuffie was called for a debatable personal foul call for contact to the helmet on a third-down incompletion from Hurts to Dallas Goedert.
That kept the drive alive, allowing the Eagles to take a 7-0 lead on a ‘tush push’ Jalen Hurts rushing touchdowns after a long completion to Jahan Dotson.
Should the Eagles finish the job, the questionable OPI call will be forgotten, whereas the one against Kittle in Miami back in February 2020 lives in 49er infamy.
