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Super Bowl LVIII is ready, as the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers will battle in Las Vegas for the Lombardi Trophy. The Chiefs appear to have overcome their regular-season offensive woes, even winning two playoff games on the road as underdogs against the Buffalo Bills and the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens. As for the 49ers, the first place in the NFC was eliminated by the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions to return to the Big Game.
This is a revenge of Super Bowl LIV four years ago, where Patrick Mahomes defeated Jimmy Garoppolo to earn his first Super Bowl victory. Brock Purdy is under center for the 49ers these days, and as a former “Mr. Irrelevant,” he will become the lowest-drafted quarterback to start a Super Bowl. What does this confrontation have in store for us? Will he have many points or more defense? Who will win Super Bowl MVP? Let’s look at five early predictions for our final match of 2023. NFL season.
Last week, Mahomes became the first quarterback not to be sacked and fumbled in three consecutive playoff games since last year’s Super Bowl, but he was sacked twice against the Ravens. Pressure on the quarterback will be a point of emphasis for Steve Wilks’ unit.
The 49ers defense has struggled this postseason, allowing an average of 386 total yards per game, which ranks No. 6 among the eight teams that played at least two postseason games this year. Bosa will be in charge of changing the rules of the game. In 11 playoff games, Bosa has recorded 10 sacks. He got to Mahomes once during their last Super Bowl game. This time, he gets to the quarterback twice.
The game comes down to one pivotal play in the fourth quarter.
In the last Super Bowl matchup between these two teams, the Chiefs trailed by 10 points entering the fourth quarter. However, Mahomes’ offense scored 21 unanswered points to win by 11. This time we won’t see many goals in the fourth quarter, but the ball will be in Purdy’s hands with a chance to win the game late.
Down 24-20 with two minutes left in the game, the 49ers offense takes the field after a Tommy Townsend touchback. Purdy begins to make big plays through the air, first on a 12-yard screen by Christian McCaffrey, followed by a 10-yard pickup by George Kittle and then a 20-yard catch-and-run by Brandon Aiyuk. It looks like San Francisco is going to make it. After all, Purdy had zero winning drives in the regular season and two winning drives in two playoff games. It’s not intended for 49ers fans, however, as Purdy and Deebo Samuel are not on the same page on a timing route, which led to a Nick Bolton interception.
Chiefs win as Under hits
The 49ers opened as slight favorites over the Chiefs, but the line immediately began moving in the direction of Kansas City. People realize that getting Mahomes with more money is an automatic gamble, just as it was in last year’s Super Bowl. It will be interesting to see how the line moves over the next two weeks, but underdogs are 3-0 against the spread in the last three Super Bowls. The favorites are 29-26-2 all-time.
Mahomes is 10-1-1 ATS in his career as an underdog and 9-3 overall. He is also 3-0 SU as an underdog in his playoff run, with two of those wins coming in the last two weeks.
The Chiefs have led by 2:05:36 this postseason. That’s the fourth-most for a team to reach the Super Bowl since 2000. As for the 49ers, they’ve led for 27:30. That’s the fewest time led by a team to the Super Bowl since 2000. The Chiefs also have the best defense of the Andy Reid era with 17.3 points per game allowed in the regular season and 13.7 points per game allowed in three postseason games. . The Chiefs aren’t going to waste the best defense Mahomes has ever had and cement this team as a dynasty.
That’s why I also have this game on the lower tier. The Under is 14-6 in Chiefs games this year and 9-9-1 in 49ers games. The Chiefs didn’t need an offensive explosion to defeat the Ravens, while the 49ers needed to create an offensive explosion in the second half just to have a chance against Detroit.
Mahomes wins Super Bowl MVP
A whopping 12 of the last 17 Super Bowl MVPs have been the quarterbacks of the winning team. In fact, when Kansas City defeated San Francisco in 2020, I thought it should have been Damien Williams who won Super Bowl MVP, not Mahomes. Mahomes fumbled twice while Williams averaged 6.1 yards per carry on 17 carries and scored once on the ground and once through the air. But MVP is a quarterback award, whether in the regular season or the Super Bowl.
I predict Mahomes will become the first player to win three Super Bowl MVPs in a five-year span. Another Super Bowl MVP would make him the third player to NFL history to win three Super Bowl MVPs, along with Joe Montana (3) and Tom Brady (5).
Travis Kelce Retirement Speculation Intensifies
Kelce is already a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and also an NFL postseason legend. He currently ranks second in playoff receiving yards (1,810), first in playoff receptions (156) and second in playoff receiving touchdowns (19).
Following his third touchdown-scoring Super Bowl victory, with Taylor Swift at his side as confetti falls from the sky, Kelce makes a surprising comment about his future, saying he’ll take some time to reflect on what’s next. That fuels speculation about her retirement, and Kelce is finally stepping away this offseason, as is her brother.