One week remains until Super Bowl LVIII, which represents a rematch of the title contest from four years ago. Kansas City earned a come-from-behind victory in that instance, but the team enters Sunday’s game as slight underdogs. 
Encountering offensive consistency issues not seen before during the Patrick Mahomes era, the defending champions still managed to post a strong record while searching for a rhythm in the passing game. Kansas City won the AFC West for the eighth straight season while leaning on one of the league’s best defenses. That resulted in a home postseason game in the wild-card round (a comfortable win over the Dolphins in frigid conditions), but it required road trips for the first time in Mahomes’ postseason career.
One-score victories in Buffalo and Baltimore saw the Chiefs continue to display a strong pass defense in particular coupled with a more balanced attack than earlier in the campaign. Having cleared a slightly new challenge in terms of winning on the road in January, Kansas City has arrived at a fourth Super Bowl in the past five years. A third win in that span would further cement the legacies of Mahomes, head coach Andy Reid and others.
By contrast, many members of the 49ers’ roster and coaching/front office staff are seeking their first title. Having come up short – due in large part to a late collapse – in the first Chiefs matchup, redemption will be a goal for San Francisco’s veterans. Of course, quarterback Brock Purdy headlines the list of players who did not take part in the loss four years ago. The former Mr. Irrelevant was firmly in the MVP conversation throughout much of the 2023 season, his first as a full-time starter. Fellow finalist Christian McCaffrey has proven to be the two-way offensive focal point San Francisco envisioned he would be when trading for him.
After securing the NFC’s No. 1 seed, the 49ers appeared poised for a relatively smooth journey back to the Super Bowl. The team’s two home wins (against the Packers and Lions) did not go according to plan especially in the early going, however. San Francisco trailed in the fourth quarter of both games, and a run of 27 consecutive second half points was needed against Detroit to ensure the victory. Having allowed 772 combined yards in two postseason contests, the 49ers’ defense will be a unit worth watching closely next week.
Purdy’s injury in last year’s NFC title game played a large role in San Francisco falling short of the Super Bowl, which delayed the upcoming contest by one season. Now that it has arrived, he – like much of the team’s nucleus along with head coach Kyle Shanahan – will aim for a first career championship. Mahomes, meanwhile, can become the fifth starting quarterback in history to win three Super Bowls and Reid the fourth coach to do so.
Who will win it all this year? Vote in the poll below and have your say in the comments section:
Giant meteor please.
Gullible lunatics have told me that the Pentagon has already picked the winner as part of their vast conspiracy, so…the Chiefs, I guess.
KC is right on the verge of going from “the team everyone watches hoping they win” to “the team that everyone watches hoping they lose because all they do is win”. Patriots are finished and the NFL needs a new “bad guy” What quicker way for them to turn heel then to have Swift on field with her new fiancee ( yes I’m buying that conspiracy theory too will be right after game..perhaps halftime) telling everyone to register to vote and go vote for Biden because orange man bad. BOOM 1/2 the country has new evil empire and NFL rakes in even more $$. ( for the record I am not a tinfoil hat wearing type I just like playing along with almost all of these types of things just in case one hits true I can say I told you so)
Only people who hate that girl are certified weirdos.
FWIW, the whole dumb thing is just a way to distract from having to talk about what exactly that $83.3 million was going to and why and next week it will be a new distraction from the $370 million fraud case.
They build up the hype to a dumb thing that would never happen (why lose an endorsement in the sea of other activity at the Super Bowl when it could be a week long story in a slower news period, for one) and then next week they’ll run dumb stories trying to pretend that when the dumb thing that was never going to happen but they said would happen anyway doesn’t happen it’s news…
“Is Taylor breaking up with Joe?” etc. etc. etc.
What’s wrong with aluminum foil hats? Shiny, easy to clean, easy replacements and warm!
Niners 26-17
Just because they’re gullable lunatics doesn’t mean that the conspiracies aren’t real. everyone knows that the Iluminati are headed by Roger Goodell and he controls the outcomes for all the games so he cam manipulate and control the betting and funnel the monies into the Alien coffers in area 51 and Antarctica. I mean, it’s common knowledge right?
Be careful. In this day and age, someone online will be ready to believe exactly this.
That’s what makes th.gullable lunatics I guess.
That someone plays for the Mavericks
The nfl does make decisions that increases odds of things happening that they want. To believe otherwise is naive. They may not control or direct outcomes but they do push the odds more in their favor
It’s no secret the nfl has been pushing chiefs and Taylor swift to the Super Bowl. Even before the nfl chose the ref known for giving away teams more calls on the road during the Baltimore chiefs game.
NFL tapped into a new untapped market. Taylor swift fans. Super Bowl ticket prices have already skyrocketed up 70-90% from last year.
Tv commercial slot deals are significantly higher than last year too cause they nfl knows viewer ship and viewer ratings are going up cause Taylor swift fans will be watching.
NFL is a business first and foremost. Their goal is to make money. If you don’t think they’re doing things to increase their ability to make money you aren’t paying close attention.
I dont get why the Swifties are at play here. They will watch win or lose. It’s not like the NFL needs the Chiefs to advance seeing as it’s the last game.
$$$$
Swifties didn’t care about football before Taylor got involved. Some may have but since she’s been attending games viewership has gone up.
More people watch more money nfl can charge for commercial slots
More popular the Super Bowl is more the market drives up the price of tickets since it’s a limited supply.
It comes down to Taylor Swift is making the NFL more money.
That’s just ridiculous…Italian satellites and Google Nest thermostats control the world.
Oh, and oxygen is deep state plot. Just FYI.
Considering that one of the main sources of income for the NFL is viewers, and Taylor Swift has clearly increased the viewership….
104 million worldwide Swifties Cult Members can be confused because both teams wear red and they thought that was against the rules… because they are watching.
Next year it’s the NFL’s new mission to introduce the Swifties to the new on-line Taylor’s Tip’s and Spreads App to get them gambling.
The Puppy Bowl
So many stupid people believe what they read in the political propaganda rags masquerading as news. There is no right wing Taylor Swift conspiracy theory. There was a podcaster who asked some questions to the chatbots (mislabeled as AI, which doesn’t actually exist) and the chatbots came up with the theory. This has been spun by the leftist news media into a right wing conspiracy. They cannot win a real argument, so everything is re-framed for your consumption.
All of this is to distract from the fact that the NFL absolutely manipulated the games to get Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl. It would actually be better for the NFL if the chiefs didn’t win. That way Taylor’s fans can grieve with her and Travis and bleed this nonsense into next year. If the chiefs win, Travis retires, and the NFL loses all those potential new eyeballs to sell advertising dollars.
Not really a conspiracy, just common business sense.
Kelce won’t retire, win or lose
“There is no right wing Taylor Swift conspiracy, it’s all just a left wing scheme to distract you from the NFL’s Taylor Swift conspiracy.”
The funny thing is this isn’t satire, intentionally.
Taylor Swift will win the Super Bowl.
Stay down Chump
Taylor Swift HAS WON the Super Bowl.
There, I fixed it for you……
It’s “THEY LIVE” and the aliens are controlling/infiltrated all the TV sets, satellite dishes, NFL players, and Taylor Swift, so the outcome is of no importance. The commercials will sway people to do the bidding of the aliens…oh, and Mahomes leads a last second comeback to pull off a 27-24 win…
Roddy Piper RIP
49ers 22-17
Glock Purdy MVP
I don’t trust the 49ers kicker.
These games are the inverse of rigged, the game won’t ever be the way you expected! With that said, the 49ers win 35-31. McCaffrey is the MVP, coin toss is heads, gatorade color is red. Taylor Swift camera shots – 11.
According to the ‘officials’ I polled, 49’ers by 10 points.
Not a fan of ‘preteen girl’ idols!
Niners All Day! BANG BANG