Mr. Irrelevant vs. Mr. Mahomes.
Super Bowl LVIII will be held in Las Vegas this year for the first time in the city’s history at the brand-new Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders. The match-up will be a rematch of the 2019-20 season, during the 100th season of the NFL which was Super Bowl LIV. Where the Chiefs beat the 49ers 31-20.
The match-up consists of the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The spread for this game is over/under 47.5 points and San Francisco is favored by 2 points. The Chiefs are underdogs for a third straight playoff game. This is a rare occurrence for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. This matchup is extremely different from the one back in 2020. The Niners have Mr. Irrelevant back at QB for them in Brock Purdy and Mahomes and the Chiefs are looking to fulfill and truly create a new dynasty. The Niners were big favorites to be here at the start of the season. Their roster shows it and they expected nothing less. The Chiefs’ season this year is considered a rebuilding year because of the amount of players they have lost, and they still made it to this point.
Both teams have their strengths and weaknesses, but here’s what some fans have to say about the matchup.
“Chiefs struggle to stop the run on defense and have a very good pass defense. Charles Omenihu being out hurts the pass rush. Steve Spagnuolo is a phenomenal Defensive Coordinator and will put his defense in the best spot to be successful. On offense, the Chiefs struggle to have consistency catching the football outside of tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Rashee Rice. They will need to get some contributions from other pass catchers to win. They have to minimize their penalties and turnovers because they aren’t the same offense as what they’ve been. Joe Thuney and Jerick McKinnon if they can’t play hurts,” Lifelong Chiefs fan and P.E. teacher Jeremy Houchins said.
Sophomore Dylan Meier will be rooting for the 49ers this Super Bowl.
“The Niners have a good defense and could play a big part in showing the Chiefs weaknesses,” Meier said.
Again, two great storylines are lining up for this Super Bowl: Brock Purdy being Mr. Irrelevant, the last pick of the draft usually overlooked even when on the team, and proving everyone wrong or Patrick Mahomes creating a dynasty and proving he is one of the best, if not the best quarterback in the history of the NFL.
“I think Mr. Irrelevant is the better story. I would root for him any other time, unfortunately he has to go against us. I can also see why people don’t like Mahomes. His family gets in the way of a lot of things,” Chiefs fan Ethan Jackson said.
Another topic on the game is 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan’s job security. Lots of people believe if he doesn’t win, it’ll be another year of wasted potential, and shows how he can’t win it matters most. Others believe no matter what he’ll be just fine in San Francisco.
“No! If they fire him after this, there would be 31 other teams lining up to hire him,” Houchins said.
Meier agrees.
“No, he is one of the best coaches in the NFL,” Meier said.
Many people this year wanted Dan Campbell and the Lions to pull off their first visit to the Super Bowl in franchise history and wanted to see quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Ravens go up against them. Most of America didn’t want these teams in the Super Bowl but it is still set up to be a good one again this year.
“I would have liked to have seen the Lions in because they haven’t been in it or won it. I would have also liked to play them with Chris Jones and Travis Kelce to avenge the loss at the beginning of the year,” Houchins said. The same goes for Meier, just with different teams.
“Yes, I was hoping for the Ravens and the 49ers this year,” Meier said.
The game is set up to be a close match-up throughout all four quarters and fans here seem to think the same thing.
“27-23 Chiefs. I predicted the 49ers to win at the beginning of the playoffs, but the Chiefs have turned it on in the playoffs by not turning the ball over and playing mistake-free offense. I think it is tough to bet against Mahomes, but I think this is a coin-flip game- the 49ers have a very talented roster,” Houchins said.
Jackson seems to be thinking similarly about the game.
“Chiefs 20 and 49ers 17. It will be extremely close and both of these teams have great defenses. The Niners have a great d-line and the Chiefs have a great secondary but in the end, you can never bet against Mahomes,” Jackson said.
Though Meier is rooting for the Niners, he is not a part of the Niners faithful.
“27-24 Chiefs. These teams are very high scoring but the Chiefs knock down the 49ers,” Meier said.
