Super Bowl LVIII is almost here — less than a week away following a long regular season and playoffs. Facing off in Las Vegas will be the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers as the teams will duke it out for the Lombardi Trophy. Kansas City appears to have overcome its regular-season offensive struggles, and even won two playoff games on the road as underdogs against the Buffalo Bills and No. 1-seeded Baltimore Ravens. As for San Francisco, the NFC’s No. 1 seed scraped by the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions to make it back to the big game.
The showdown will be a rematch of Super Bowl LIV four years ago, when Patrick Mahomes defeated Jimmy Garoppolo for his first Super Bowl victory. Brock Purdy is under center for the 49ers these days, and as a former “Mr. Irrelevant,” he will become the lowest-drafted quarterback to ever start a Super Bowl. What does this matchup hold in store for us? Will it feature plenty of points, or more defense? Who will win Super Bowl MVP? Let’s break down five early predictions for our final game of the 2023 NFL season.
Last week, Mahomes became the first quarterback to not be sacked and not turn the ball over in three straight playoff games dating to last year’s Super Bowl, but he was taken down two times against the Ravens. Getting pressure on the quarterback will be a point of emphasis for Steve Wilks’ unit.
The 49ers defense has struggled this postseason, allowing an average of 386 total yards per game, which ranks No. 6 among the eight teams that played at least two playoff games this year. Bosa is going to take it upon himself to be a game-changer. In 11 playoff games, Bosa has recorded 10 sacks. He got to Mahomes once during their last Super Bowl meeting. This time, he gets to the quarterback twice.
Game comes down to a pivotal fourth-quarter drive
In the last Super Bowl matchup between these two teams, the Chiefs were down 10 points entering the fourth quarter. However, Mahomes’ offense scored 21 unanswered points to win by 11. We won’t see that much scoring in the final stanza this time around, but the ball will be in Purdy’s hands with a chance to win the game late.
Down 24-20 with two minutes remaining in the game, the 49ers offense takes the field following a Tommy Townsend touchback. Purdy begins picking up chunk plays through the air, first on a Christian McCaffrey screen that picks up 12 yards, followed by a 10-yard…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CBSSports.com Headlines…