Tyrann Mathieu Says Chiefs Were 'Grateful' When Garoppolo Threw in Super Bowl

The Kansas City Chiefs were apparently thrilled when the San Francisco 49ers put the Super Bowl in Jimmy Garoppolo's hands.

"We were grateful they got out of the run and started to throw the ball," Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu said following his team's 31-20 victory Sunday, per ESPN's Will Cain. 

Garoppolo deserves plenty of credit for helping lead his team to the Super Bowl, but quarterback was not the 49ers' biggest strength this season. In fact, they threw the ball a mere eight times in the NFC Championship Game win over the Green Bay Packers, instead turning to running back Raheem Mostert.

Mostert finished with 220 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 29 carries in that game, and San Francisco as a whole ran it 42 times.

Despite building a double-digit lead and theoretically being in position to work the clock and utilize the run, the 49ers ran it just 22 times by comparison in Sunday's loss. Mostert had a team-high 12 carries, finishing with 58 yards and a touchdown, while Garoppolo aired it out 31 times for 219 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

That clearly played into the Chiefs' plans given Mathieu's comments.

Kansas City parlayed Garoppolo's first interception into a field goal in the first half, and his second one all but ended it with less than a minute remaining. Yet it was an overthrow to Emmanuel Sanders and not the picks that will surely haunt the 49ers quarterback following the loss.

With his team down four and less that two minutes remaining, Garoppolo airmailed a deep ball to an open Sanders that would have given the 49ers the lead and put the pressure on counterpart Patrick Mahomes to respond one more time.

Instead, San Francisco turned it over on downs and didn't get the ball back until it was down by two scores.