With Championship Sunday in the rearview mirror, Super Bowl LIV is set to take place in Miami on Sunday February 2, 2020 when the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers play the final game of the season. But which team will emerge victorious? Will the Chiefs hoist the Lombardi Trophy and finally get Andy Reid a Super Bowl ring? Or will the 49ers win it all and maybe, just maybe, lessen the sting of Super Bow LI for Kyle Shanahan, who was part of the 28-3 debacle while he was with the Atlanta Falcons? Below is a Super Bowl LIV prediction and odds.
Super Bowl LIV Prediction and Odds
Odds
The Las Vegas Line is Kansas City -1.5 with the over/under set at 52.5. That means the Chiefs are favored by only half a field goal. The money line doesn’t tell a different story, either, with Kansas City at -121 and San Francisco at +102. Both Vegas and the money line show the Chiefs being favored, but not by much in either instance.
Teams favored to win the Super Bowl are 35-18 straight up and 26-25-2 against the spread. While that should make the Chiefs and their fans feel a little warmer this winter, those statistics are far from a guarantee of a Kansas City Super Bowl victory.
Prediction
Kansas City’s last Super Bowl appearance was Super Bowl IV, while San Francisco last made an appearance in the big game in Super Bowl XLVII.
The Chiefs are on a seven-game win streak, while the 49ers have won four straight contests. These two teams have never met in the Super Bowl. The last time they faced off against each other at all was in Week 3 of the 2018 season, when Jimmy Garoppolo tore his ACL.
The Chiefs have the reigning MVP of the league, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and speedster Tyreek Hill on offense and a much improved defense from last season. The 49ers have Nick Bosa and a stifling defense, along with an impressive committee of running backs, including Tevin Coleman (who hopes to return from a dislocated shoulder in time for the Super Bowl), Raheem Mostert (who couldn’t be stopped in the NFC Championship game) and Matt Breida.
The Chiefs fell behind in both of their playoff games this season (to the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans), but behind the magic of Mahomes they rallied and won both games. Will Mahomes and the Chiefs offense be able to go after the field opposite Richard Sherman and find success as other teams have at times this season? Mahomes is a mobile quarterback and mobile signal callers have, at times this season, caused issues for the impressive 49ers defense. If Kansas City wins it will be because of their quarterback. Mahomes is a special difference maker.
If the 49ers can dominate the line of scrimmage they will hoist the Lombardi Trophy. If their offensive line is impressive that will allow their running backs to gain chunks of yards and keep Mahomes on the sideline (which is really the only way to slow him down). But Mahomes will be on the field at some point and when he is San Francisco’s pass rushers, including Bosa, DeForest Buckner and Dee Ford, need to wreak havoc as they have all season and get after and contain Mahomes.
Last Word
The 49ers are probably the more complete team of the two and with their ground game and defense they are probably built to hold onto a lead more than the Texans or Titans. San Francisco will win a close game by keeping Mahomes on the sideline as much as possible.
But, at the end of the day, this game will probably be a very close contest and betting on it is probably a fool’s errand. Just buy some squares and hope to get lucky, or apostar carreras de Ceballos instead.
Main Photo:
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