First-year 49ers DL Javon Hargrave on Super Bowl defeat to Chiefs with Eagles: 'I think the loss is the only thing I think about'

HENDERSON, Nev. – Several 49ers players have repeated the same mantra during the lead-up to Super Bowl LVIII. 

Talent won't win this game; whoever plays the best will win.

San Francisco certainly has plenty of talent, and some have Super Bowl experience. Players like George Kittle, Arik Armstead, Deebo Samuel, Nick Bosa, Fred Warner and Kyle Juszczyk are among the existing 49ers who played in Super Bowl LIV at the end of the 2019 season. They lost that game to the Chiefs – the same opponent they'll face in Super Bowl LVIII – and it still stings.

But that was then, and this is now. The same 49ers who speak about execution outweighing talent will also be quick to point out there are plenty of differences between that team and this one.

"It was a while back," Armstead said Wednesday. "Definitely wasn't a good feeling, losing. Trying to change that."

Time might have helped heal the emotional wounds from San Francisco's loss to Kansas City in Miami. But another current 49er hasn't been afforded as much time to process his own loss in the Super Bowl.

Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave was in this same spot a year ago as a member of a Philadelphia Eagles defense that entered Super Bowl LVII with a chance to reset the single-season team sacks record. It finished with zero sacks in a last-minute loss to Kansas City.

Those dang Chiefs.

Hargrave didn't mince words when asked to reflect on his Super Bowl LVII experience, replying with "I think the loss is the only thing I think about."

Instead of trying to run it back with the reigning NFC champions, Hargrave headed west in early 2023, signing an eye-popping four-year, $81 million deal with the team his Eagles had just defeated to reach the Super Bowl. On paper, the signing was doubly