49ers fans endured wild ride in Super Bowl overtime loss to Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl in overtime Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers with a touchdown. The final score was 25-22.

At BuzzWorks bar in SoMa, where a Chiefs watch party had been in full force since 11 a.m., Kansas City fans were going absolutely bonkers. Fans hugged one another, giving high fives. Beer spilled everywhere, and one fan bowed to Patrick Mahomes when he came on screen for a reply celebration video.

“This has been a very special game,” said Nick Katz, who helped emcee the event at BuzzWorks and has been a key organizer of Chiefs fans in the Bay Area. “I got to celebrate this community with the blood and soul I’ve poured into it. I’m at the top of a mountain.”

Fans piled out of BuzzWorks with big smiles on their faces and music pumping out of the bar.

Jessica Yuan stood with her friends, celebrating the moment outside the bar.

“It was a stressful game,” she said. “I never doubted Mahomes. I’m wearing my jersey all month.”

The biggest cheers by far came after Travis Kelce appeared on camera.

“He ain’t fucking retiring—that’s all I know,” said Andrew Severn.

Niners fans had other thoughts at bars across the city.

“We’ll be back next year,” said Kim Cruise, part owner of Ruth’s on Treat Street.

At the Bucanneer in Russian Hill, 49ers fans were seen holding one another, bowing their heads in defeat.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed said that despite the 49ers’ loss at Super Bowl LVIII, she is still proud of the team.

“They worked so hard, and this is only [quarterback Brock] Purdy’s second year, and they made magic happen tonight,” Breed said. “We’re faithful to the end, and we’re gonna be back next year.”

Mark Mabutas, a lifelong Niners fan donning a jersey with “Mission Familia” on the back, said he wasn’t expecting chaos to unfold because of the loss.

“It’s dead. The police are happy,” Mabutas said as he watched fireworks explode in the sky outside of Ruth’s in the Mission. “It was a good game, but it’s killing me.”

Ending an impressive drive from the Niners, San Francisco kicked a field goal to retake the lead in overtime of what is shaping up to be a Super Bowl showdown to remember.

Now, the Chiefs will have their chance at scoring—can the 49ers stop them?

Regulation time has now ended after the game was tied 19-19 with seconds to go. Kansas City kicked a field goal after a Travis Kelce run took the team inside the 30-yard line.

Jake Moody has done it again, this time from 53 yards, snatching the lead with less than two minutes left of game time in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl.

Niners fans at Hi Tops were ecstatic when their team scored three points.

With just minutes of regulation game time to go, the Chiefs have tied the game with a kick. Leaving 49ers and Chiefs fans in San Francisco fully on edge as an overtime ending looks increasingly likely.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed is watching Super Bowl LVIII with bated breath at Lookout on 16th and Mission.

Just moments after she said she was “feeling good” about a 49ers victory and was about to answer questions about where a 49ers parade would be, the Chiefs scored.

“This is why we don’t talk about the parade!” Breed said, grabbing reporter Garrett Leahy’s pen and scrubbing out his notes.

Breed said she’s watching the game in San Francisco to support the city and its residents.

“I wanted to be in San Francisco with the amazing energy of San Franciscans,” Breed said.

Standard reporter Garrett Leahy has again been spotted downing shots with elected officials—this time with Mayor London Breed.

The shots were downed at the Lookout in the Castro shortly before the Niners retook the lead with a touchdown but then missed the conversion, giving the Chiefs the ball back in a bizarre scene.

State Sen. Scott Wiener was in a celebratory mood after being spotted taking shots with Standard reporter Garrett Leahy at The Detour on Market Street.

Mayor London Breed briefly appeared at the bar earlier, along with Supervisor Rafael Mandelman.

Sadly for Niners fans, it came shortly before a fumble and a touchdown for the Chiefs, seeing them take the lead for the first time in the game.

“I think the 49ers will have the nerves in the second half now,” said Chiefs fan Jason Yonker at BuzzWorks.

Niners fans were hardly rattled by the Chief’s touchdown. The bar went silent for a few seconds but was quickly reenergized when Taylor Swift appeared on screen, emphatically booing the pop star.

“We’re gonna come back; it’s alright,” said Kim Cruise, part owner of Ruth’s on Treat Street.

Chiefs fans were not looking happy at BuzzWorks after another turnover gave the Niners possession.

But in the Mission, 49ers fan Tony Parra was showing off his Joe Montana-autographed hat after he ran into the star former quarterback at Geary Street and Grant Avenue last week.

“We gotta score right now,” said Parra. “We got to shut them down.”

Meanwhile, Niners fans have been spotted giving Taylor Swift the finger whenever she appears on screen at Ruth’s at Treat Street bar.

Margarita in hand, lifelong San Francisco 49ers fan Katie Laverty said she was feeling confident in a Niners win as Super Bowl LVIII went into halftime, with her team leading the Kansas City Chiefs 10-3.

“I’m excited because we’re usually a second-half team,” Laverty said at the San Francisco Athletic Club. “It’ll be a close game, but if we play like we usually do in the second half, I’m confident we’ll win.”

Chiefs fans weren’t throwing in the towel, either.

Fans said Patrick Mahomes is a legend in the second half—and has come back from worse deficits before.

“I think about 2020, and we were down a lot more,” said Chiefs fan Mike Rieger at BuzzWorks, referring to the last time the two teams met at the Super Bowl. “I feel good.”

Joni Redmond felt similarly confident.

“Patrick Mahomes is magic in the second half,” she said. “He always takes halftime to recalibrate.”

Almost no one seemed impressed with Usher’s halftime performance at any of the bars our reporters were at, except one reporter’s girlfriend in Russian Hill.

Susanne Strom wasn’t making any friends at BuzzWorks. A diehard San Francisco fan, Strom was dragged to the Chiefs bar because her husband was rooting for Kansas City.

As the 49ers scored their first touchdown, Strom was at the front of the bar, pumping her arms in the air.

“People are hating me right now,” Strom said, with a coy look on her face. “They’re telling me to get out.”

A pass to Christian McCaffrey saw the running back breeze to a touchdown. A successful conversion kick made it 10-0 in the second quarter.

The score came moments after the Niners’ Dre Greenlaw was carted off the turf with an injury he sustained running onto the field from the sidelines.

Aldo Parra, who grew up around the block from Ruth’s at Treat Street, screamed as McCaffrey ran into the end zone.

“And to think I was going to go home and watch the game,” Parra bellowed. “I was thinking, ‘Who the fuck are they going to throw it to?’ and McCaffrey said, ‘I’m going to be the man.’”

As his elation settled, Parra said he was still nervous despite the 10-point lead.

“We can’t talk too soon. We gonna celebrate when we get touchdowns, but we know Kansas City,” Parra said. “You can’t give Mahomes a chance. … We gotta pace ourselves.”

After the 49ers scored their first touchdown, pushing the score to 10-0, Chiefs fan Ashley Whiting said she felt uneasy about how her team was performing.

“I’m still excited but nervous,” said Whiting, who was wearing a vintage-looking Chiefs jacket at BuzzWorks’ Chiefs fans-only watch party. “I mean, in the beginning of the year, we were a little hesitant. I know people were ready to put us down, saying we weren’t gonna make it this far. I am on edge right now.”

The 49ers are the first team on the scoreboard with a Super Bowl-record 55-yard field goal from Jake Moody for 3 points.

As the 49ers scored, the cheers of fans—and the aroma of buffalo wings—permeated the San Francisco Athletic Club.

Oakland resident and lifelong Niners fan Amyssa Underdue was ecstatic that the 49ers scored first and said she was feeling cautiously optimistic.

“I think it’ll pick up in the second half,” Underdue said. “I’m glad we scored, but I want to see how it goes.”

After celebrating winning the coin toss at BuzzWorks, Chiefs fans went positively bonkers as the 49ers gave up a turnover.

Emmanuel Onuoha said the fumble was a positive sign for the Chiefs early in the game.

“They’re gonna get it back in the second half,” Onuoha said. “This is really good for us.”

Wanda Ramos, 68, was glowing outside BuzzWorks on Sunday, donning a stunning white hat that was attracting all types of fans begging for a photo. Ramos moved from Kansas City to San Francisco in 2012.

“I created it,” Ramos said, referring to her headwear. “For the last four games, I’ve had it on. So now I call it my lucky hat.”

San Francisco 49ers fans and partners Natasha Wilson and Andrew Rossmeisl had one message for Chiefs fans ahead of Super Bowl LVIII—a middle finger.

Sitting inside Sunset sports bar Chug Pub on Lincoln Way near 20th Avenue just before 3 p.m. on Sunday, both said they were confident the Niners would emerge victorious, not the least because Wilson had her lucky 49ers cowboy boots on.

“They’ve never lost a home game while I’ve worn these,” said Wilson, who said she had been to all but three 49ers home games this season. “It’s not even gonna be close.”

Rossmeisl, sipping with a Red Bull energy drink, was bullish on a Niners win. Still high from the two 49ers playoff wins against the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers in January, he predicted the score would be 34-21.

“That shit was amazing, dude,” Rossmeisl said, munching on a chicken wing. “It’s not even gonna be close.”

Inside the dark confines of the Buccaneer on Polk Street in Russian Hill, about a dozen fans pregamed with beers, tequila and Red Bull vodkas.

Bartender Rob Desanto predicted a Super Bowl victory for the 49ers by a score of 28-21.

Asked by Detroit Lions fan and Standard reporter Josh Koehn if the bar was doing anything special for the game, Desanto paused to think about it and then said, “No.”

“But they are serving chicken wings next door at [Street restaurant], and they’ve never done wings before,” Desanto said shortly before 3 p.m. “I’m definitely gonna go get some wings.”

With a giant boombox and a 49ers flag in tow, Bay Area natives and lifelong Niners fans Alvaro Aleman and Elias Barajas walked 3 miles from the Excelsior to drink tall cans of beer on the corner of 22nd and Mission streets.

They refused to predict the game’s outcome because they didn’t want to “jinx it.”

But they insisted that the Niners’ confidence would put them over the top.

By 2:30 pm, Barajas said he had more to drink than he had expected to.

“They don’t have the confidence. That’s what wins Super Bowls,” Aleman said. “We’re a dynasty.”

Sitting inside the Cow Hollow sports bar Final Final on Baker Street around 2 p.m., 49ers fans Doug Williams and Tanner Fudally predicted their team would claim victory in Super Bowl LVIII.

“The 49ers have the best tight end in football,” Williams said, sipping an IPA. “They can block the best. It’s really gonna affect the run game.”

Fudally said he thought the Chiefs would score first before the 49ers pulled ahead, with defensive end Chase Young as the lynchpin for a Niners win.

“If Chase Young has a big game, there’s zero chance the Chiefs win,” he said.

When asked if they had a message for Chiefs fans, the pair only had one thing to say.

“See you next year,” Fudally said.

A line of people waiting to watch the game at the Chapel in the Mission stretched around the block.

“We’re going to church,” said Jenn Montes de Oca, who made it to the front of the line after nearly two hours. Her friends said they drank “way too much” while waiting in line.

Benny Adamo, born and raised in San Francisco, said he had been waiting in line for an hour and a half to watch the game at the Mission bar.

Adamo said he’s heard the “conservative” conspiracy theories about the NFL rigging the game in favor of Taylor Swift, but he’s not convinced. He predicted the Niners would win 31-24.

Just after 1 p.m., 49ers fans began trickling into Lost Marbles on Clement Street between Ninth and 10th avenues, eager for the big game to begin.

Cousins Dan and Drew Mathieson had been there an hour, each nursing a pint of Kolsch beer and hopeful the 49ers would emerge victorious.

Drew predicted running back Christian McCaffrey will be key to a Niners win.

“I think they’ll make some big plays,” Drew said. “McCaffrey’s a special player.”

Dan said he thinks it will be close but predicted the 49ers will pull ahead at the last minute and beat the Chiefs.

“I think it’ll be a slugfest, with not a lot of big plays,” Dan said. “I don’t think it’ll be very exciting until the end.”

And a Niners win might have a silver lining for Taylor Swift fans, Drew said.

“Taylor Swift’s gonna make better music if Kelce loses,” Drew said. “She’s fueled by heartbreak.”

Carl Siegel, a Niners fan who grew up in the Mission, said he’s looking forward to an upcoming Taylor Swift song about the Chiefs’ Super Bowl loss.

“It’s going to be a sad song,” Siegel joked. “We’ll write it for her.”

Siegel and his friend from college, Chris Jain, said they think the storyline around Swift’s football romance has been good for the season.

That being said, Jain said he’s looking forward to seeing her “crying in the booth at the end of the game.”

Responding to Jain’s comments while sitting outside of Buzzworks, Kansas City native Sybil Renick cleared her throat and took a long sip of beer with a grin on her face before gathering her thoughts.

“The Chiefs are going to win,” said Renick, who moved to San Francisco 20 years ago. “She’s going to be writing a song about heartbreak for the 49ers.”

Niners fans were out in force in the Mission by noon. Around 200 fans packed into Standard Deviant Brewing on 14th Street for the brewery’s annual chili cook-off.

“It’s the best day of the year,” said Preston Burnes, a 40-year-old Niners fan from the Marina.

Burnes, dressed as Cal Naughton Jr., played by John C. Reilly in the movie Talladega Nights, said he predicts the Niners will come back behind and win by three with a kick. The Talledega Nights chili team was serving up chili with Pepsi-braised brisket and other “commercial ingredients.”

“This is Brock Purdy’s comeback kid Joe Montana moment,” Burnes said. “A big comeback moment will cement his legacy.”

“If you’re not first, you’re last,” said Allegra Winegar, who was serving up the teams’ chili.

Zack Phillips, who moved from Kansas City to San Francisco in 1989, has been rocking this unique hairdo of a soccer ball for close to three decades. He freshened up the colors this morning for the Chiefs.

It’s inspired by RollerSoccer, a sport he’s been working to help gain traction since 1995. The game is played on rollerblades. Philips, 58, said he dyes his hair different colors for holidays like Mardi Gras, for example. He freshened up his hairdo on Sunday morning for the Super Bowl.

“I think it’s going to be a tight game,” Phillips said. “One way or another, the Chiefs are gonna pull it out.”

Phillips is hanging out at BuzzWorks on 11th Street in SoMa. The bar is hosting a Chiefs fans-only watch party for the big game.

This story will be updated throughout Super Bowl Sunday with comments from fans across the city.