Newton claimed Purdy did his job, made plays but the 49ers coaches let the team down.

Cam Newton did not blame Brock Purdy for the San Francisco 49ers loss in the Super Bowl. Rather, he pointed out that Kyle Shanahan opting to throw in overtime was the mistake that tipped the balance of the game in the Kansas City Chiefs‘ favor.

During the latest segment of his 4th and 1st show podcast, Newton claimed that Purdy did what he did best, which was to manage the game well. He rarely made any mistakes and did not throw a pick, unlike his opposite number. The game eventually finished 19-19 in regular time, and the winner could only be decided at the end of overtime.

Newton said:

Brock Purdy did not have a bad game.

Cam Newton said

However, Shanahan, the 49ers head coach, decided to receive. Their drive ended with Jake Moody’s 27-yard field goal. Now the Chiefs had the ball, and their drive led to Mecole Hardman finishing off with a 3-yard touchdown. Newton argued that the 49ers should have chosen to kick after winning the coin toss.

Newton added:

Why the fu** did they receive the ball first? Tony Romo mentioned, 'When you know what you have to get, now you have four downs to get it. Not three.' The 49ers were just trying to get a point, and that's not Brock Purdy's fault; that's bad coaching.

Cam Newton added

Cam Newton blamed the 49ers organization and not Brock Purdy for the overtime call

Newton wasn’t the only one shocked by Shanahan and his coaching staff’s decision to receive in OT. It also baffled the Chiefs players as well. All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce later accepted that the 49ers handed the game to them on a silver platter.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback (Image via IMAGO)
There have been several OT rules over the years. Initially, it was a sudden death, which meant winning the coin toss was crucial. The NFL changed it in 2010, making it more complicated. If a team kicks a field goal on the first drive of overtime, the other team gets the ball. If they score any other kind of point besides FG (touchdown or safety), they win the game over.

The 49ers must have planned the game based on this method. Because fullback Kyle Juszczyk admitted they weren’t aware of the recent changes in the rule, Juszczyk was right; in 2022, the NFL tweaked the rules once again. But not for the regular season.

The new rule gives each team at least one possession in overtime. Even if one team scores a touchdown on their first drive, the other team will get a chance, and if they score and the scores remain the same, there will be a second OT.

Even so, does that mean Shanahan made a mistake? Cam Newton certainly believes so.

Newton said:

We are not understanding how serious this is. The fact that they weren't [aware of] what the rules were—that's Shanahan, that's Steve Wilks, that's John Lynch, and that's the 49ers organization—it's not Brock Purdy's fault.

Cam Newton added

Was opting to receive the wrong call by the 49ers?

ESPN’s Brian Burke would disagree. The veteran football expert did a thorough simulation after the 2022 overtime rule change. Although it’s still a hypothesis, Burke came to the conclusion that those with first possession win 50.29% of the time, “assuming the team with 2nd possession doesn’t go for 2 if they match a TD.“

The first-position team will have an extra drive when there’s an odd number of possessions. As for the second team, they need to survive the initial drive for an advantage. Burke added that the difference in win percentage is so small that it would take many years of playoff games to actually witness an advantage.