Conference Championship Record: 2-0
Overall Record: 5-5
Kansas City Chiefs over San Francisco 49ers: Not since Patriots/Seahawks back in 2014 has a Super Bowl matchup been so difficult to predict. The significant lack of big game experience and potentially exploitable flaws that exist on both teams have turned this into a brutal coin flip that has drained confidence from even the brashest gamblers and pundits that exist in the wonderful world of NFL forecasting.
In essence, this is a showdown between old and new school NFL philosophies. The 49ers can beat you with punishing physicality on defense and an ability to sustain long drives with a strong running game while the Chiefs can beat you with their dynamic speed/athleticism and big play ability that makes them a threat to score at any given moment. History has shown that the team with the better defense tends to have the edge in these matchups, but I have to give the slightest of advantages to the team with the better offense.
Yes, the 49ers have a very real chance of exposing another soft defensive front with their monstrous downhill running attack led by Raheem Mostert-which would help keep the ball out of the hands of Patrick Mahomes and this lethal Chiefs offense. Yes, the 49ers have a deep, imposing defensive front (Dee Ford, DeForest Buckner, Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead) that should be able to cause some problems for the Chiefs average o-line and force to them to run far more than they'd like to. Yes, Jimmy Garoppolo and this underrated 49ers passing attack is being alarmingly overlooked going into this game and could very well do damage against an unsuspecting Chiefs D.
However as scary as the 49ers are, I just can't pick against a team that's led by a QB in the middle of a hot streak. Mahomes has been absolutely unreal in the past two playoff games (615 YDS, 8 TD, 0 INT, 65.7 CMP%, 131.5 QBR, 106 Rushing YDS, 1 TD) and his escapeability/fearlessness paired with the sheer depth of vertical threats they have at their disposal could prove to be difficult for the 49ers (particularly their stout but not overly fast secondary) to slow down. Plus given the path they've had to this game that was set in motion with the bye they earned courtesy of a stunning Week 17 Patriots home loss to the Dolphins, the football gods might finally be pulling for the Chiefs after 50 straight years of heartbreak-fueled championship futility.
In essence, this is a showdown between old and new school NFL philosophies. The 49ers can beat you with punishing physicality on defense and an ability to sustain long drives with a strong running game while the Chiefs can beat you with their dynamic speed/athleticism and big play ability that makes them a threat to score at any given moment. History has shown that the team with the better defense tends to have the edge in these matchups, but I have to give the slightest of advantages to the team with the better offense.
Yes, the 49ers have a very real chance of exposing another soft defensive front with their monstrous downhill running attack led by Raheem Mostert-which would help keep the ball out of the hands of Patrick Mahomes and this lethal Chiefs offense. Yes, the 49ers have a deep, imposing defensive front (Dee Ford, DeForest Buckner, Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead) that should be able to cause some problems for the Chiefs average o-line and force to them to run far more than they'd like to. Yes, Jimmy Garoppolo and this underrated 49ers passing attack is being alarmingly overlooked going into this game and could very well do damage against an unsuspecting Chiefs D.
However as scary as the 49ers are, I just can't pick against a team that's led by a QB in the middle of a hot streak. Mahomes has been absolutely unreal in the past two playoff games (615 YDS, 8 TD, 0 INT, 65.7 CMP%, 131.5 QBR, 106 Rushing YDS, 1 TD) and his escapeability/fearlessness paired with the sheer depth of vertical threats they have at their disposal could prove to be difficult for the 49ers (particularly their stout but not overly fast secondary) to slow down. Plus given the path they've had to this game that was set in motion with the bye they earned courtesy of a stunning Week 17 Patriots home loss to the Dolphins, the football gods might finally be pulling for the Chiefs after 50 straight years of heartbreak-fueled championship futility.
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