The San Francisco 49ers couldn’t pull it off against the Kansas City Chiefs, once again, and lost Super Bowl LVIII in overtime, 25-22. It was a tough, painful way of losing in what was a magical season, with a strong roster and a great run from important players.

During our game preview, we selected three players from each team to watch. And this is how the 49ers’ pieces performed in Las Vegas.

Brock Purdy

Purdy started the game hot, even though his performance dropped a little bit by the end of the first half. Both quarterbacks, Purdy and Patrick Mahomes, went to overtime with exactly 123 passing yards.

The second half started extremely slow for him, though. The quarterback had -1 yard over the first 12 minutes of the third quarter, not taking advantage of what the defense and special teams were doing. That and a special teams fumble were the main reasons why the game, which started 10-0 for the 49ers, had the Chiefs leading 13-10 heading into the fourth quarter.

And right to start the fourth, he missed a throw on first down that should have been a touchdown to Deebo Samuel, running with separation to the endzone. Right after that, though, Kyle Shanahan trusted Purdy to convert a fourth down to George Kittle, and then a touchdown pass to Jauan Jennings.

In the last drive of regulation, it wasn’t perfect, but Purdy completed some important throws to put the 49ers in field goal position to take the lead with a 53-yard kick from Jake Moody.

Purdy finished the game with 23 of 38 for 255 yards and a touchdown. He had an 89.3 passer rating — he didn't surpass a 90 passer rating in any game this postseason.

It was certainly Purdy’s cleanest game in the playoff run, even though it didn’t end like the previous ones.

Christian McCaffrey

McCaffrey made a huge mistake early with a fumble in the first drive of the game. However, the star running back recovered with his ability as a receiver. He finished the first half with five receptions for 47 yards, including a touchdown in a pass thrown by wide receiver Jauan Jennings.

In the second quarter, however, McCaffrey extended his knee during a play. He stayed in the game, but it didn’t feel like his usage and effectiveness were the same after that moment.

In overtime, McCaffrey had more volume once again, including a big catch when he was a checkdown option and putting the 49ers in scoring position.

The type of game that presented itself wasn’t ideal for the running back, but he was still pretty impactful with the first-half touchdown and with his overtime production. However, his 3.6 yards per carry show that it wasn’t the game flow the 49ers would prefer.

Fred Warner

If the 49ers had won the game, Fred Warner would have had a big opportunity to be the MVP. Warner's role to block the middle of the field became even more important after Dre Greenlaw suffered a bizarre non-contact Achilles injury, being ruled out in the first half. And you can see how good Warner is in the details.

In the end of the second quarter, on third down, Warner bumped Justin Watson to complicate Mahomes’ progression, forcing a field goal.

watch how Warner collisions Watson and ends up making Mahomes double-clutch when trying to go to Rice pic.twitter.com/TpPThueqzj https://t.co/76HcYtA9DF

— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) February 12, 2024

Warner was also important in Mahomes’ interception in the first drive of the second half, perfectly covering Travis Kelce and forcing the opposing quarterback to make a desperate throw.

https://twitter.com/bykevinclark/status/1756858656048419232

On a first down with 10 seconds left in regulation, Warner again was in man coverage and was able to avoid a reception from Travis Kelce, forcing the Chiefs to kick a field goal and take the game to overtime.

In overtime, though, the 49ers’ defense was carved out and couldn’t avoid the game-winning Chiefs touchdown from Patrick Mahomes to Mecole Hardman.

How the 49ers can take advantage of Purdy’s last cheap year

Brock Purdy has played two seasons in the NFL