After the past weekend’s NFL’s Conference Championship Week, sports fans are now thinking about the upcoming Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. They are wondering if the matchup will be a lopsided advantage on one side, or will it be a game where they (and the media) are on pins and needles for two weeks dissecting and trying to predict the outcome.
KC got off to a slow start this year and midway through the season (at 6-4), there were a plethora of question marks surrounding the team. Will the running game be effective without Kareem Hunt? Can Patrick Mahomes, the young, standout QB leading the team, overcome a defense that was playing subpar?
For a team with as much talent as the Chiefs — led by Head Coach Andy Reid — you’d expect them to look dominant during games. That wasn’t the case early.
Generally, once a team has become “hunted” in the NFL, it will get every opponent’s best shot week to week. The Chiefs began to understand this after their disappointing 35-32 loss to the Tennessee Titans in week 10, two weeks before the Chiefs’ bye week.
That said, Kansas City was lucky to have that bye week toward the end of the season because, if a ballclub is in contention for the playoffs, the break can provide what feels like a fresh start late in the NFL year. The Chiefs ended the regular season on a six-game winning streak and Mahomes currently has the offense running like a well-oiled machine.
Defeating the Titans in the AFC Championship game propelled the Chiefs to the Super Bowl for the first time in 50 years.
Representing the NFC is the San Francisco 49ers.
When John Lynch took over as General Manager in 2017, the team was coming off a 2-14 season. They’ve gradually filled positions of need to create the 2019 roster. Between using four first-round picks on the defensive line in the draft to making the trade for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, it’s apparent that Lynch is not comfortable being “average.”
San Francisco is a complete football team and, when a franchise can run the ball consistently and effectively — and play defense at an elite level — it will be dominant. The 49ers finished the season 13-3, winning games in the trenches on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Possessing one of the most physical offensive lines in the league, running backs Tevin Coleman and Raheem Mostert have had tremendous success.
Head Coach Kyle Shanahan is known for his innate ability to create different schemes and maximize the talent around him. As an offensive coordinator in Atlanta with the Falcons, he orchestrated one of the most significant offenses in NFL history.
But during Super Bowl 51 between the Falcons and New England Patriots (which the Pats won), Shanahan caught negative feedback for not running the ball more with a 25-point lead. After squandering that championship opportunity, the coach made sure he learned from that mistake.
In this past weekend’s NFC Championship matchup, the 49ers head coach didn’t need to go in his trick bag of plays… the running game was so productive there was no need to adjust the game plan and San Francisco beat the Green Bay Packers with authority.
The upcoming Super Bowl will be a heavyweight matchup between the two best teams in the NFL, both with incredible offensive firepower yet different schemes. The Chiefs set up the run game with their lethal passing attack. The 49ers set up their passing game with elite rushing.
The outcome will be determined by which teams’ style of play will prevail for 60 minutes and SB LIV (54) has the potential to be a classic.