BIG GAME PREVIEW: 49ers will beat Chiefs

Here are the reasons for my prediction, and it includes a guess on who will be the game's MVP

Maybe it’s just me, but it certainly felt like the week leading up to Sunday’s Big Game was all about Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid and his quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Can Reid, after winning 207 career games, finally lay claim to the Vince Lombardi Trophy 15 years after losing in its first and only appearance while head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles?

Can Mahomes become the youngest quarterback to ever win the big one and push Brett Favre into second place on that list?

My answer to both questions is no.

It almost feels like the San Francisco 49ers have become an afterthought as the clock counts down toward kickoff in Super Bowl LIV. They have been undersold, undervalued, and underrated, yet I am picking the 49ers to win the game.

My reasons are rather simple: San Francisco’s defense and San Francisco’s running game.

Mahomes gets my edge over Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback, except Mahomes doesn’t have even have half the running game that Garoppolo has, and that running game with Raheem Mostert, Matt Breida and Tevin Coleman should allow the 49ers to keep Mahomes on the sidelines for long stretches.

That could lead to frustration for Mahomes and added pressure to make plays when he is on the field, and that could lead to mistakes.

As much as I favor Mahomes receiving targets and their speed, the 49ers finished number one in the league against the pass for a reason. A big part of that reason is cornerback Richard Sherman, who has Super Bowl experience under his belt with the Seattle Seahawks.

Even more than the secondary, San Fran’s defensive line is a pressure-based unit. It comes at you in waves, with not only one player piling up sacks and pressures, but several, with Arik Armstead (10 sacks), defensive rookie of the year Nick Bosa (nine sacks), and DeForest Buckner (seven sacks) capable of taking down Mahomes on any dropback.

Completing the picture on a 49ers defense that finished second overall in the NFL are the linebackers. 

They are an athletic bunch, which should help neutralize KC tight end Travis Kelce to an extent and prevent Mahomes from running wild on them, like the QB did in the title game win over the Tennessee Titans.

Of course, a big part of winning this game comes down to managing nerves on the game’s biggest stage and handling the longer than usual commercial breaks and the extra-lengthy halftime show.

"They're loose, to a point,” Reid told a pool reporter on Saturday. “They know the job at hand against a real good football team, but at the same time, we try to let our personalities show. That's been an emphasis, and I don't expect them to stop doing that now."

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan took his team to Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday, after a week of practicing at the University if Miami, to get a feel for how long the breaks will be.

According to a pool report, Shanahan told his players they should hydrate and stretch for the first 15 minutes of halftime then go into their normal halftime routine at the 13-minute mark.

"It's going to feel like forever," said Shanahan. "We're not used to that."

Shanahan was in the Super Bowl as the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator three years ago, so he should know how to get his players used to the long breaks, and I believe it will be him and the 49ers who will hoist the Lombardi Trophy late Sunday night.

PREDICTION: 49ers 27, Chiefs 23

MVP PREDICTION: 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa