Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers: The Niners have a history of poor big game starts.
The 49ers will most likely turn their Super Bowl fantasies into a nightmare if they bring their bad behaviour from big games to Las Vegas.
The 49ers’ slow starts in their four biggest games of the season—at Philadelphia, against Baltimore, and in both NFC playoff games—are puzzling for everyone, but fortunately, they have only resulted in one loss.
However, the Kansas City Chiefs present a distinct type of rival.
Give them an early two-point advantage, and they’ll hang onto it until the last drop of confetti.
The Chiefs club of this season is hardly a super team. It was common practice to write the Chiefs off as Super Bowl candidates prior to the playoffs, and with good reason: their offence dropped from No. 1 in terms of DVOA to No. 8 due to subpar wide receiver and offensive tackle play. Both Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce didn’t appear to be the All-Pro player they once were. This was seen as a death sentence in the cutthroat AFC since this squad had taken a step back.
The fact is, not much has changed in this regard. Even if Kelce is doing better, Kansas City still has a lot of those problems going into the Super Bowl.
Their ruthlessness is the reason they are in the big game.
They may no longer possess the firepower necessary to defeat any squad.
Apart from possessing one of the top defences in the league, the Chiefs also have the know-how and expertise to run a game effectively.
Everything about it feels a lot like the Tom Brady Patriots.
This season, it has become increasingly clear that very few NFL experts are actually watching the entire games. Maybe some YouTube highlights, but not the entire game broadcasts or the All-22 movie.
As a result, the conversation surrounding Niners quarterback Brock Purdy is that he’s a “dink-and-dunk” game manager—someone who does virtually nothing except screen throw the ball to his playmakers and let them finish. Pardon my vomit.
Meanwhile, Mahomes continues to live up to his well-earned image as a reckless, deep-ball-slinging talisman.
This season, the roles are actually totally reversed.
The 49ers’ offence is not what many assume Kansas City runs.
The offence that many believe Kansas City still runs is being run by the 49ers.
This season, Purdy was one of the NFL’s top and most reliable deep-ball passers. He was the epitome of the gunslinger.
Mahomes, on the other hand, has developed into a screen-pass maestro; this season, his average air yards per throw ranked sixth in the NFL.
For Kansas City, however, that was the way things had to be. The offensive had to be simplified and things had to be cut back.
Even though the Chiefs lack the offensive firepower to defeat you, they still won’t defeat themselves; instead, they will let their opponent handle the rest.
In the AFC Playoffs, Kansas City performed just that. Kansas City had little trouble winning that playoff game because Miami was playing in below-freezing temps; the Dolphins had made it plain from the first kickoff that they would stop at nothing to return to subtropical conditions.
The next week, Buffalo defeated their own record. With 3:23 remaining in the third quarter of that game, the Bills scored. They were never able to score again because Josh Allen’s rushing and throwing became the foundation of their offence. And in the last moments, he did neither exceptionally well. Postseason play is no place for one-man performances.
The Ravens then executed one of the most bizarre game plans in modern NFL history during the AFC Championship Game.
Kansas City won that championship game with 17 points. If that had been known before to the game, everyone would have reasonably assumed that the Chiefs had lost.
However, the Chiefs triumphed because Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson, the greatest running quarterback in history, chose to remain in the pocket on dropback after dropback for eight, nine, and 10 yards in Mississippi.
En route to the Super Bowl, the Chiefs’ opponents were unprepared for primetime.
Do the 49ers?
The Niners will play five huge games this year, starting with this one.
They have an excellent start record and are 0–4.
In Week 10, against Philadelphia (remember how much anticipation there was for that game? ), the Niners started the second quarter with zero offensive yards.
Then, from the start, the Niners’ offence against Baltimore on Christmas went horribly awry.
In their NFC Divisional Round match, Green Bay never built a significant lead, but in the battle of the Bays, they managed to contain the Niners’ offence. To move on, the Niners required a game-winning drive in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
And in the NFC Championship Game, Detroit wounded the Niners. San Francisco would be watching the Super Bowl on TV with the rest of us if it weren’t for Detroit’s collapse, which began late in the second quarter, and for a historic comeback that included 27 unanswered points in the second half.
The Niners exposed their shortcomings before Philadelphia, Green Bay, and Detroit exposed theirs.
Kansas City, though, will not do so. This club has spent the last few weeks demonstrating their ability to maintain their composure in Las Vegas, under the direction of a Hall of Fame quarterback and head coach.
The Chiefs have played enough postseason football to understand the meaninglessness of style points. If you blow out a team, you do not get to skip a round.
No, it’s advance and survive. This playoffs, the Chiefs may be more shrewd than strong, but the outcome is the same.
Therefore, it would be wiser for the 49ers to play their best football early in the game, even though they may feel confident in themselves going into the Super Bowl (and for good cause).
When these two teams last faced off in the Super Bowl, Kansas City prevailed thanks to a strong comeback. With just over seven minutes remaining in the game, the 49ers had a 10-point lead and Kansas City was facing a third-and-15 in their own territory.
The Wasp stung next.
However, such kinds of cards are not in the Chiefs’ possession this time.
What a cobra that Chiefs team was. This group is uncomplicated, unwavering, and stuffy like a boa constrictor.
Therefore, it’s unlikely that the Niners will mount a late-game comeback like the two that got them to the Super Bowl for a third consecutive year game.
The first quarter of the Super Bowl may prove to be the most crucial.
It is imperative that the Niners don’t miss it.