Super Bowl LIV Heads to Miami with Great Expectations
By Ras H. Siddiqui
Super Bowl LIV or 54 for those of us not familiar with Roman numerals, is going to be played in Miami, Florida at the Hard Rock Stadium on February 2 nd. It pits the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football Conference (NFC) against the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football Conference (AFC) in what could possibly be one of the greatest matchups of defense against offense in recent memory.
To be more specific it will be the 49er defense against the Chiefs offense competing to put points on the board to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy, the highest honor for any team in the game of American Football (since most of the rest of the world refers to our soccer as “football”). And we will not get into a discussion here on why Roman numerals are used to identify the National Football League (NFL) championship game here.
This Super Bowl has an added attraction for us here in Northern California this time. With the exit of the Oakland Raiders who are officially moving to Las Vegas, the San Francisco 49ers are our sole “home team” left to support. And the winning tradition that this team has established ever since the 1980’s has to be acknowledged. Even though the current team is not as powerful as the Joe Montana or Steve Young led 49ers of the past, it does have a starting point from where it can achieve similar greatness. And for that reason we are all approaching this matchup of Super Bowl LIV with great expectations. The only problem standing in their way are the offensive powerhouse Kansas City Chiefs. In the battle of quarterbacks San Francisco’s Jimmy Garoppolo is not looking as formidable as Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes.
Comparing these two quarterbacks is important if one is to zero in on the Chiefs strengths. Mahomes has proved himself a leader whose passing abilities have propelled this AFC team into this Super Bowl. He has thrown for 4031 yards this season, completed 319 of 484 passes attempted, with 26 touchdowns to his credit with 5 interceptions. He has also run the ball himself for 218 yards.
San Francisco’s Jimmy Garoppolo is not too far behind in total yardage with 3978 to his credit, completing 329 of 476 attempts passing, with 27 touchdowns scored and 13 interceptions thrown (a comparatively high number) plus a lower 62 yards of running the ball. Kansas City has a slight edge here but it can be said that San Francisco has a great deal more to offer in other areas.
Running the ball this season has become a San Francisco success story. And the two Running Backs that have dominated games for the 49ers are Raheem Mostert (772 yards with 8 touchdowns) and Tevin Coleman (644 yards with 6 touchdowns). Mostert was critical in the San Francisco victory over the Green Bay Packers and Coleman against the Minnesota Vikings in the earlier playoff game. These two will give Kansas City some cause for worry in this game. At the time of this writing Coleman’s playing status remains questionable due to injury but 49er dependence on Deebo Samuel or Jeff Wilson Jr could be equally effective. The Chiefs have Damien Williams (498 yards and 5 touchdowns) and LeSean McCoy (465 yards with 4 touchdowns) and Quarterback Patrick Mahomes (yes, him) as lead rushers. It will be fun to see how these three perform against the San Francisco defense in this Super Bowl.
The passing game stats this year indicate an edge for Kansas City. San Francisco’s TE George Kittle (1053 yards, 5 touchdowns) and Wide Receivers Samuel, Sanders and Bourne will hopefully stay busier in this game and not leave it to the run alone. Kansas City TE Travis Kelce (1229 yards, 5 touchdowns) and its four Wide Receivers, namely Hill, Watkins, Hardman and Robinson can turn any game around in no time and have been delivering well recently in come from behind wins for the Chiefs. If the San Francisco defense allows Mahomes enough time to throw, Kansas City will pretty much dominate this game and come out ahead.
It is said that in the end it is the defense that wins football games and not offense (alone). In that area the San Francisco 49ers have certainly excelled and reached the Super Bowl primarily due to their superior defensive capability. It is difficult to single out exceptional individual players in the San Francisco defense but watch out for Nick Bosa and Sacramento’s very own Arik Armstead to make a difference in this game against the Kansas City offensive line of 300 pounders. Bosa has 9 sacks and 1 interception to his credit and Armstead is also a leader with 10 sacks this season. Plus, we need to be on the lookout for Richard Sherman to turn the game around with any possible interception during this game. For Kansas City Chris Jones is still questionable for this game along with two other key players but Frank Clark should remain one force to contend with.
Now to the question, “Which team will win Super Bowl LIV?” if a prediction has to be made in this article). We in Sacramento and most of Northern California will be hoping for a San Francisco 49er victory so that they can join the exclusive “Club of 6” or the teams with six Super Bowl wins which today include only the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots. Kansas City has not won a Super Bowl (only 1 thus far) since 1970 so they are 50 years overdue. This is their third time playing in this championship final, and as some may say, “Third time is a charm”. The Chiefs have something to prove and they can do it in this game. Mahomes and company can never be counted out. But San Francisco has certainly broken their Levis Stadium jinx. At this point the heart says a San Francisco victory but the mind and the tea leaves indicate Kansas City!
