Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs explosive offense going up against the San Francisco 49ers defense loaded with first rounders at the defensive line. That's the narrative surrounding the Super Bowl and we get this stuff every year, it's two weeks with no games and a lot of build up but sometimes a single battle gets a little overplayed and we lose perspective of other important factors.
If you never heard of football before in your life and by some reason you decided to listen to the Super Bowl coverage, you'd be shocked to hear that the 49ers offense actually outscored and outgained the Kansas City Chiefs this season
Offensive yards: 6097 SF 6067 KC
Points for: 479 SF 451 KC
The gap is small to the point it doesn't mean much if anything but the hype surrounding Mahomes has propelled the public perception to the point where the Chiefs seem to be in a different stratosphere. San Francisco has a top notch offense and they can score in a variety of ways, against the loaded Saints they put up 48, New Orleans has a star studded defenses, it's not like they punished the Bengals.
Seeing that interception early against the Vikings and how Kyle Shanahan managed the offense in the postseason since then it causes some skepticism regarding their ability to pass the ball effectively, but that's something they did in the regular season. Shanahan wasn't going to pass the ball against the Packers just to prove he can do it.
Having won against the Texans being down by 24 it makes you think the Chiefs are never out of a game but the Texans blew that one as much as anything else, they shortened the game, the fake punt allowed Kansas City to score quickly, but the point is that if happens again, if they get down by 14, they can still come back, but it's a complete different story.
Nick Bosa is amongst the best rookies in NFL history but he struggled against mobile Quarterbacks, he overcommitted often and allowed the QB to step up and get away from him. Against Lamar Jackson, Russel Wilson and Kyler Murray the latter two twice he had no sacks and in all five of those games were close, San Francisco won 3 of them.
Neither team has a great offensive line but Jimmy G gets rid of the ball quickly within the 49ers' scheme and the ability to extend plays by Pat Mahomes helps mascarate some of the holes in the OL. Kansas City is significantly better in passing protection, Mitchell Schwartz is exceptional in pass blocking and I am very much looking forward to seeing that battle, Chiefs' tackles against the 49ers' edge rushers.
Truth be told this game could go either way it feels as though San Francisco has the better overall roster but with Mahomes and those weapons the Chiefs can beat anybody, not like in a sense where they have merely a shot, they are stacked as well, the edge for San Francisco isn't that big. I am just excited and looking forward to a great game Sunday in Miami.
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