Trick play fuels 49ers to 10-3 Super Bowl halftime lead over Chiefs
Wide receiver Jauan Jennings threw a touchdown pass on a trick play and Jake Moody set a Super Bowl record for longest field goal as the San Francisco 49ers took a 10-3 halftime lead over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday in Las Vegas.
Christian McCaffrey caught the 21-yard scoring pass from Jennings for San Francisco, which outplayed the Chiefs over the first 30 minutes.
Moody set his record with a 55-yard field goal 12 seconds into the second quarter. It broke the old mark held by Steve Christie of the Buffalo Bills. Christie made a 54-yarder against the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXVIII on Jan. 30, 1994.
San Francisco stretched the lead to 10 when Brock Purdy threw a lateral to his left to Jennings, who then threw a toss all the way back to the other side of the field. McCaffrey caught it and easily sped ahead to score the game’s first touchdown with 4:23 left in the half.
Jennings was a quarterback in high school and threw two college touchdown passes during this time at Tennessee.
He also became the sixth non-quarterback to throw a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl. The only other receiver to throw one is Antwaan Randle El for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL. Running backs Robert Newhouse (Dallas Cowboys, XII), Lawrence McCutcheon (Los Angeles Rams, XIV) and Joe Mixon (Cincinnati Bengals, LVI) and tight end Trey Burton (Philadelphia Eagles, LII) are the others.
Kansas City finally got on the board on Harrison Butker’s 28-yard field goal with 20 seconds left in the half.
Patrick Mahomes (11 of 13) of the Chiefs and Purdy each passed for 123 yards in the first half. Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce hit a sour note with just one catch for 1 yard.
Both teams lost a fumble while threatening to score.
McCaffrey fumbled on San Francisco’s opening series and Kansas City’s George Karlaftis recovered at the Chiefs’ 27-yard line.
In the second quarter, Kansas City’s Isiah Pacheco fumbled and San Francisco’s Javon Hargrave recovered the ball at his own 8.
–Field Level Media