One drive.

One stinkin' drive.

A few short passes, a few well-designed runs, a drive that took several minutes off the clock.

It may have resulted in a field goal or, even better, a touchdown.

At the very least, it would have eaten precious time off the clock, and with a 20-10 lead in the fourth quarter, would have been enough to salt away the San Francisco/Santa Clara 49ers' first Super Bowl victory since the 1994 season.

But San Francisco could not put that drive together, the Kansas City Chiefs finally played like the Kansas City Chiefs over the final 10 minutes, and their quarterback and tight end were rewarded with millions.

MEANWHILE, THAT team in a neighboring state that seems to have a lot of fans in our region believes it has assembled a crew to finally return to the Super Bowl for the first time in six seasons.

If you injest the missives from the Seahawks Booster Club, Seattle not only has the best quarterback in the game, but also the best coach and the best middle linebacker.

That, along with some key acquisitions, is a pretty good start toward returning to the dominant form that led the squad to back-to-back Super Bowls.

It is with that backdrop that the 49ers (hopefully) and Seahawks begin their NFL seasons today, Seattle at Atlanta and San Fran at home (unless the air quality has other ideas) vs. Arizona.

THE 49ERS were the surprise of the league last season. Most had S.F. pegged to be improved, but still third in the NFC West, behind the Rams and Seattle — or Seattle and the Rams.

Instead, the 'Niners won the division by inches, and rode two home wins in the playoffs to their first Super Bowl in seven seasons, and only their second since that '94 campaign.

And it's not like they had Joe Montana (or Steve Young) throwing to Jerry Rice and John Taylor.

They have an elite tight end, but other than that, their other skill players are very good but not great (yet), most big plays coming via the brilliant offensive schemes of head coach Kyle Shanahan.

If they ever end up with some of the elite talent at those positions that other teams have, watch out.

On defense, the 49ers' pass rush feasted on the statue quarterbacks, but struggled chasing after the mobile ones (who doesn't?) — including The Great Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray of Arizona and that Mahomes fellow in K.C.

The fact two of those three QBs play in the same division as S.F. is troubling.

Though things looked promising at the time, the 49ers slowly fell off the map after that 2012 Super Bowl appearance, so hopefully that won't happen this time.

HAD SEATTLE not bungled the final minute of the 49ers game in Week 17, when the Seahawks had to take a delay-of-game penalty because the player they'd hoped to hand the ball off to at the 1-yard line didn't have his helmet, Seattle could have played at home throughout the playoffs, rather than have to travel to Philly and Green Bay.

Perhaps this is the season Seattle's Genius Coach abandons his conservative run-first philosophy, and lets TGRW do throughout the game what he's only been allowed to do in the fourth quarter in the past.

Or perhaps TGRW just says to heck with it, and takes it upon himself to play like Mahomes all game, figuring what are his bosses going to do about it?

That would be scary for opponents.

Because Seattle has elite athletes at receiver, a good enough running game in today's NFL, and a defense that should be adequate enough to win playoff games.

And if the Seahawks decide to rent their former star running back again at the end of this season, hopefully they'll assign somebody to stand alongside him during games with his helmet, just in case.

As long as TGRW and his Genius Coach are still around, Seattle's Super Bowl window remains open.

GC is the oldest coach in the league, but he'll be a "young" 69 on Tuesday. TGRW turns 32 in November, but shows no signs of slowing down, and doesn't appear to be going anywhere either. If that former Patriots QB can play 'til he's 45, there's no reason TGRW can't play until, say, he's 50.

At that point, his coach would be a "young" 87, perhaps preparing TGRW's son to take over at QB a few years after GC and TGRW retire following the 2038 season.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.