San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Sunday February 11th 6:30 pm
Super Bowl LVIII takes place tomorrow night in Las Vegas, Nevada. The red-hot Kansas City Chiefs come into Allegiant stadium to take on the stacked San Fransisco 49ers. Both teams were considered at the start of the NFL season to be the cream of the crop, and top contenders to take home the Lombardi trophy at the 58th Super Bowl.
After the downfall of the Eagles earlier this year, the Niners were the clear-cut favourites in the NFC. With an absolutely stacked roster consisting of an NFL-leading 9 pro bowlers. They also come into the game with the 2023 offensive player of the year Christian McCaffrey.
The Chiefs, after an extremely up-and-down season, have had questions surrounding them all year long, but seemingly in typical Chiefs fashion they managed to make the Super Bowl again for the 4th time in 5 years. Both of these teams could easily win on Sunday night, and it could very well be a toss-up. Although it’s seemingly impossible to bet against Mahomes and Kelce, this 49ers team is way better on paper from top to bottom. The Niners who ranked top 5 in rushing offense and defense this season could prove to be an unstoppable force on Sunday night. The Chiefs’ defence, although seemingly unstoppable this playoff run, needs to lock in on Sunday night. Kansas City ranked 17th amongst all NFL teams in their ability to stop the run this season. When playing against the best running back in the NFL, this could be a huge problem. But once again, this is Mahomes and the chiefs we are talking about.
Quarterback Breakdowns
Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
Strengths
Purdy, shocked everybody after being the last pick in the draft. Mr. Irrelevant ranked 3rd in touchdowns with 31 this season, 1st in QBR with a quarterback rating of 72.7, 5th in total yards with 4280 and 4th in completion percentage at 69.4%.
Purdy this season has really excelled at throwing the ball up the middle. According to espn.com, “56% of his passes are between the numbers (third-most among QBR qualifying quarterbacks) and 14% are between the hashes (most). But the efficiency is there as well. He ranks first in QBR (75) when throwing between the numbers and second (94) between the hashes — interestingly, behind only Mahomes.”. Purdy’s strengths are also the weapons he has to catch the ball. Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle at tight end is the perfect core to be able to tear this chief’s defence apart. The matchup should be interesting, but Mr. Irrelevant has spent all season proving he’s made for this.
Weaknesses
Purdy’s main weakness is throwing the ball into zone coverage. According to ESPN.com purdy has a 61 QBR against zone coverage and a 90 against man. When playing a zone-heavy defense like the Chiefs who primarily run a 4,3 playbook. This could be quite the challenge. There will definitely be multiple times throughout the game where he will need to rely on his running back, but when your running back is CMC, this should be no concern for anybody.
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Strengths
When talking about Patrick Mahomes, the real question is what aren’t his strengths? Mahomes’ performances over the years speak for himself, but the main strength to look out for in this game is his extremely low 3.7% sack rate, especially when going up against Nick Bosa and the Niner’s offensive line. Mahomes also ranks second in scramble EPA behind only Josh Allen this season. Viewers should keep an eye out for his ability to be extremely elusive in the pocket.
Weaknesses
According to ESPN and NFL Next Gen Stats, “Mahomes’ completion percentage over expectation this season (postseason included) is negative-1.1%, which ranks 23rd out of 30 QBR-qualifying quarterbacks.” Not only this, his receiving core, although playing well during the postseason, had a drop rate of 7.3%, the second worst in the NFL. Keep an eye out on the receiving core in this game, especially considering they are playing one of the best passing defences in the NFL.
‘X Factors’
San Francisco 49ers
Christian McCaffrey
McCaffrey’s play is the most crucial part of this 49ers offence. Against a chiefs defence, that ranked number 1 against the pass this season, Shannahan and this Niners team hope to do what they’ve done all year long and rely on their superstar running back to help carry this offence to the finish line. As stated before, this Kansas City defense ranks 17th in stopping the run this season. CMC has the opportunity to have a monster game if their defense can’t lock in.
Kansas City Chiefs
Rashee Rice
Although a lackluster season by the chiefs receiving core this year, one bright spot for them was rookie Rashee Rice. Finishing with 938 yards and 7th in the Leauge for total touchdown receptions, the chiefs will heavily rely on rice and Kelce to carry their offense this game, and match the elite play of mahomes. The niners will be relying heavily on Charvarius Ward to keep up with Rice. His play will heavily affect the outcome of the game.
Prediction: San Francisco 49ers
All things considered, the Niners are the better team on paper. Although it’s really difficult to bet against the chiefs. I believe the San Fransisco 49ers will be the ones taking home the Lombardi trophy Sunday night.