Defining moments: The important games at Super Bowl LVIII.
The San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs are playing in the Super Bowl LVIII. The Chiefs are used to this. In the last five seasons, Kansas City has played in the Super Bowl four times. Patrick Mahomes and his team are trying to help the Chiefs win their third championship, which would show that they are a very successful team.
The Niners want to finally take advantage of their good luck. Similar to Kansas City, San Francisco has been strong in the last five years, making it to four NFC championship games. The 49ers have been to the Super Bowl two times, but they lost to the Chiefs in 2019.
So, who will win the Lombardi Trophy this time. We’ll look at four different matchups and see which team has advantages and disadvantages for each part of the game on Sunday.
When the 49ers are in possession of the football
Top matchup: Christian McCaffrey vs. Chiefs’ defense against the running game.
If Christian McCaffrey is able to break tackles, it could be bad for the Chiefs. This is not surprising. McCaffrey easily won the NFL rushing title with 1,459 yards. He’s the most important player in San Francisco’s running game, which came in fourth place during the regular season with an average of 4. 8 yards gained per carry.
This is a problem for the Chiefs. Kansas City gave up an average of 4. 5 yards per carry, which ranked them tied for 24th in the league. Expect San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan to focus on this area a lot at the beginning.
However, the Chiefs are good at bringing down the player with the ball. They only failed to tackle the opponent 76 times, which is the sixth-best in the ranking. They need to stop McCaffrey from getting open, and it’s important to tackle him right away. It’s not easy to do with the All-Pro, who finished tied for sixth with 2. 2 yards after contact per rush.
Matchup to watch #2: How well Brock Purdy can throw the ball accurately. Chiefs’ defensive back players.
Purdy has been struggling to throw accurately all season.
In 2023, Purdy was mostly good at football, but he didn’t throw the ball well compared to other quarterbacks. He finished 21st out of all the quarterbacks, with 16. 3% of his throws not being good. Also, his accuracy rate was in the middle at 15th place, which was the same as Geno Smith and Desmond Ridder.
Against Kansas City’s really talented defensive backfield with corners L’Jarius Sneed and All-Pro Trent McDuffie, along with safety Justin Reid, both players could cause some problems.
This is especially true if coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s strategy to blitz a lot is successful, putting Purdy under more pressure in the most important game he’s ever played.
When the Chiefs are in possession of the ball.
The biggest challenge in the game will be how well Patrick Mahomes can anticipate and react to what the other team is doing. The front of the 49ers team.
During the AFC title game, Mahomes was tackled behind the line of scrimmage two times, but he was able to avoid getting tackled a lot too. The 49ers players who try to get to the opposing team’s quarterback have a tough job ahead. During the AFC title game, Mahomes got tackled two times but he was able to escape from being tackled other times. The 49ers pass rushers have a tough job ahead. Geoff Burke from USA Today Sports.
Mahomes has been really good at not getting tackled for many years. In the last six seasons, the Chiefs have been very good at protecting their quarterback. They ranked in the top five for the least amount of times their quarterback was tackled.
The Niners have players like Nick Bosa, Javon Hargrave, Chase Young, and Arik Armstead this year, but their performance is not very impressive. San Francisco has the seventh most sacks with 48, but they only pressured the quarterback 17% of the time. The 49ers rush a lot and they are not very fast, ranking 27th at 5. 4%
Getting close to Mahomes is not sufficient. San Francisco needs to either get penalties on the tackles or actually tackle Mahomes. If not, the Kansas City’s offense will gain yards in big pieces, with plays that are planned and unplanned.
Chiefs’ wide receivers versus. opposing team’s defense. The 49ers’ way of playing defense in a specific area.
If San Francisco plays a certain way, it might be able to slow down Mahomes.
Mahomes is good at beating zone defenses, but the 49ers have been really good at stopping long plays. Actually, San Francisco only allows 9. 6 yards per reception, which is the best in football. Under coach Steve Wilks, the Niners use a single-high zone defense and focus on keeping the opposing team in front of them before going in to make tackles.
At the same time, the Chiefs are not doing well in passing, ranking 24th with just 10. 4 yards for each catch. This is because their pass-catchers are not performing well, except for rookie Rashee Rice and star tight end Travis Kelce.
If San Francisco can stop Rice and Kelce from scoring and tackle well, they will make it hard for
the Chiefs to move the ball down the field.
