Super Bowl LIV: 49ers vs. Chiefs – Why the 49ers will win this game and it might be easier than you think

This Super Bowl is an almost pick’em matchup in Vegas, but should it be? Today we are going to take an in-depth look at the upcoming big game and breakdown just how close of a matchup this may or may not be.

San Francisco 49ers offense vs. Kansas City Chiefs defense

We keep hearing about the Chiefs’ defense and how over the last half of the season they have improved. On the other hand, we keep hearing that if Jimmy G. has to throw the ball a lot the Niners are in trouble. Let’s look and see if this is true.

In reality, the 49ers are 9-2 when Jimmy Garoppolo throws the ball more than 25 times and when he throws less than 25 times they are 6-1. That’s not the dramatic difference many say. The 49ers’ offense is actually more complete than the Chiefs’ offense and can beat you in a myriad of different ways.

The Chiefs defense can get after the passer and they shut down the vaunted Titans run game, but a huge difference exists between the Titans man-blocking scheme and a big power back, as opposed to the outside zone-blocking scheme of the 49ers and the multiple running backs they have to attack a defense. The Titans will hit you with deep play-action passing while the 49ers can attack you at all three levels, short, intermediate and deep. That will be much harder to defend.

Chris Jones made a huge difference against the Titans but he is still more of a pass rusher and against zone-blocking his aggression will be used against him. So what do the Chiefs do? If they get aggressive and put the honeybadger in the box they will not be able to defend against the pass.

The Chiefs offense against the 49ers defense

The big issue here is the Chiefs are one-dimensional and that limits what they can do. If anybody is built to slow the Chiefs offense down it’s the 49ers. They can rush the passer with just four down lineman and put six into coverage and spy the quarterback with a linebacker. If the Chiefs are to win this game they will have to have some kind of a run game and with Andy Reid, at the helm of the Chiefs, I just don’t see them doing that. The question is can Patrick Mahomes win the game all by himself with no running game? If anybody can it is Mahomes, but this is not the NBA where a dominant player or two can get that done. He is going to need help from his defense at the very least and maybe a couple of big special teams plays.

Media Narrative

Patrick Mahomes is the popular in player right now and everybody seems to be cheering for Andy Reid. We have seen this all before. Look no further than the way Lamar Jackson was the in guy just a few weeks ago. Don’t let the media hype cloud your vision on this game. The fact remains that the Niners have the much better defense, the better offensive line and the better running game. In football, more often than not, those are the things that decide who the championship team will be. So in the end, don’t believe the hype as this day will belong to the 49ers, 38-24.