At leasts two San Francisco 49ers admitted after their overtime Super Bowl loss the the Kansas City Chief on Sunday that the didn’t know the rules for an NFL playoff game beyond four quarters.
The rules are different than in the regular season, and head coach Kyle Shanahan was questioned by reporters after the loss about the strategy behind him deciding to have his team play offense first, after getting to decide by winning a coin toss.
“I didn’t even realize the playoff rules were different in overtime,” 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk said after the game, via ESPN. “I assume you just want the ball to score a touchdown and win. I guess that’s not the case. I don’t totally know the strategy there. We hadn’t talked about it, no.”
Niners defensive end Arik Armstead also didn’t know the rules, according to Fox News.
“I didn’t even know about the new playoff overtime rule, so it was a surprise to me,” he said, also via ESPN. “I didn’t even really know what was going on in terms of that.”
