Millions of people tuned in to watch the Kansas City Chiefs come from behind to defeat the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl last night, but it was what happened during a commercial break that may have made it easier for the Chiefs to complete their comeback.
Coming back from commercial break, replays showed 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw preparing the run onto the field after the 49ers had punted. He jumped a little in anticipation as the punt return was finishing up, and as he planted to accelerate onto the field, the unthinkable happened. Greenlaw went down in a heap in obvious discomfort, and the team quickly brought the injury cart to help him off the sidelines. He did not play another snap, and the 49ers eventually blew a 10-0 lead to fall 25-22.
The team later confirmed that Greenlaw tore his Achilles tendon. You can see a video of the incident below.
Dre Greenlaw appeared to injure himself jogging back onto the field pic.twitter.com/p3nwmTUsfO
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) February 12, 2024
Greenlaw’s presence was sorely missed by the 49ers. Oren Burks, who came in to replace Greenlaw after the injury, gave up nine receptions on nine targets and one touchdown. The team announced that Greenlaw will undergo surgery to address the torn tendon in the coming days.
The only silver lining for Greenlaw and the 49ers is that the NFL season is over, so he’ll have the full offseason to work back from his injury. Aaron Rodgers suffered a similar injury this year, and he was able to return to practice in 77 days. Week 1 of the 2024 season is just under seven months away, and it’s certainly possible that Greenlaw will be ready when the regular season gets under way. Even if the 49ers opt to take it slow with his recovery, he should be able to return to full strength for a significant portion of the season.
We’ll never know if the 49ers would have been able to keep Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs at bay, but it’s certainly an unfortunate and freak injury that will go down in Super Bowl lore. We wish Greenlaw the best of luck with his recovery!