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San Francisco simply has more impact players than Kansas City
The San Francisco 49ers have been one of the NFL’s best teams in recent history.
They have played in the NFC championship game in four of the past five seasons and this will be their second Super Bowl appearance in that span.
Yet, the reality is, the 49ers are in a Super Bowl drought. They won their fifth Super Bowl title (they are attempting to tie the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers with six Lombardi Trophy wins) 29 years ago.
It says here that the 49ers, who have lost their past two Super Bowl appearances, are about to end their Super Bowl victory drought Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Here are three reasons why:
The 49ers have better talent than the Chiefs
Yes, the Chiefs are the defending Super Bowl champion and they’ve looked great in three playoffs games. And yes, they possess the best player in the world in Patrick Mahomes. Still, the 49ers are better. San Francisco simply has more horses.
We, at SB Nation conducted a draft of the top 40 players in the game, and the 49ers had seven of the top 10 players in the game, including five offensive players. Overall, the 49ers had 21 of the 40 players drafted. They are loaded on both sides of the ball and they have better top-end talent than the Chiefs. Super Bowls are won by stars and the 49ers are loaded with them. In the end, it will be enough to top Mahomes and company.
Kyle Shanahan is due
Shanahan, who has been the 49ers’ head coach since 2018 and is in his 22nd season as an NFL coach, but he is still a young coach at the age of 44. He’s had a lot of success, but he has his share of Super Bowl failure. This week, he admitted that it’s been “heartbreaking” to lose Super Bowls. Shanahan has come close twice to winning the Super Bowl, losing both in bitter blown-lead defeats. The first was as the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator (in his final game before taking the head coaching role in San Francisco) in the infamous 28-3 game to the New England Patriots, and then losing to Kansas City in 2020 as the Chiefs outscored the 49ers 21-0 in the fourth quarter to win 31-20.
Shanahan has surely learned from those experiences and is determined not to let another opportunity to win a ring (his father, Mike Shanahan, owns two Super Bowl rings as a head coach and one as an assistant) slip through his hands. Shanahan has engineered two comeback victories in the playoffs this postseason. He is focused on finishing the job.
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Christian McCaffrey at the Super Bowl this week
They can out-offense Chiefs
Things are different for both the 49ers and Chiefs from four years ago when met in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs are not as good on offense. The 49ers are not as good on defense. Yet, the Chiefs are better on defense and the 49ers are better on offense. The fact that San Francisco is improved on offense is going to tip this game in its favor. It goes back to the point about them having so many horses. The 49ers can count on so many different offensive weapons throughout the game. Whether its running back Christian McCarthy, wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk or tight end George Kittle., second-year quarterback Brock Purdy will have options to wear down Kansas City’s strong defense.
Unlike Jimmy Garoppolo, the 49ers will have confidence in Purdy making plays as he did in the incredible comeback over Detroit in the NFC championship. Mahomes is incredible, but the 49ers just have more and it will result in a close 27-23 victory.
