Kansas City Chiefs, 31, defeat San Francisco 49ers, 20, in familiar comeback fashion

In what seemed like the fastest Super Bowl in history in terms of real time, the game itself wasn’t very fast moving until about midway through the 4th quarter. Going into the fourth quarter, it appeared that the 49ers were on the brink of their 6th Championship in franchise history, as John Lynch exited the press box and headed down to field level to watch the team that he built, seize the Lombardi Trophy, following another Raheem Mostert postseason end zone trip. Yet, one thing he and the football world should have learned throughout the course of this season and even last, is that the game isn’t over until it the clock hits 00:00 when #15 on Kansas City is healthy and throwing the football around the yard. There are not many quarterbacks in the league that while they are trailing by 10 points with 7 minutes remaining, it feels that they’re in absolute and utter control. Fortunate enough for the Chiefs, their signal caller, happens to be one of those rare guys. In 2019-2020 Kansas City Chiefs fashion, they trailed late, their defense bent but didn’t break by making some key timely plays. Their 24 year old superhero QB didn’t have his best game by his own metric, but made play after play when his team needed him to make them. It was kind of like that Brady guy up in New England has done for the past 2 decades.

As a football fan, I could not be more happy for Andy Reid, who has been knocking on the door of a Lombardi, for what seems like the entirety of his career. Looking from afar, we have seen the trauma Andy has had to endure in his personal life, losing a son to a drug overdose, and on the field being good year in year out but what seemed like: never good enough. Even when it seemed like Reid would never get over that hump, you kind of got the sense after last season that he had the squad and QB to finally get him there, and that it was just a matter of the Patriots having a bad day in the divisional round one of these years. Luckily and opportunistically, for Reid and his guys, this exact scenario played out this year.

We never questioned the fire power the Chiefs offense possessed with the Hills, Watkins, Hardmans, and Kelces of the world running jailbreak routes until the opposing secondary gassed out and one of them inevitably broke open. The defense was the unit that was in question. Their veteran DC had been there before dialing up blitzes on SB Sunday before, but we didn’t know if his roster had the talent to stack up to the 49ers loaded defensive front 7. Well, they certainly proved the doubters wrong on this night at Hard Rock Stadium, and sent a rather startling message to the league: the time to beat Mahomes was now. His tackles seemingly got beat badly on every other snap, and his defense seemed to have no answers for the San Francisco running attack; allowing them to gain what looked like almost 10 yards per carry all night. You have to imagine that the Kansas City front office will make it a priority to continue to stack talent on the O-Line and on the defensive side of the ball to ensure that they can maximize the special talent that is, Patrick Mahomes.

Good luck NFL, Reid’s finally got his ring and he’s got his guy, and it’s hard to imagine anyone slowing this well oiled Kansas City machine down in the near future. As for San Francisco, they had one of the youngest rosters in the NFL this year with one of the brightest young minds calling the shots on their sideline so you have to figure they will be playing in meaningful football games in the years to come as well. As for the Mahomes vs Garoppolo matchup, one QB shined and rose to the occasion when all hope looked lost while the other played well in spots but in the end was no match. With an MVP, Super Bowl trophy, the youngest Super Bowl MVP in NFL history (24 yrs) and a top 5 scoring offense in NFL history under his belt, it is Mahome’s world and we are just living in it.

Kansas Chiefs. San Francisco 49ers. Jimmy Jesus vs Patrick Mahomeboy. Offense vs Defense. A coach who’s been winning for decades vs the new kid on the block. Clash of the titans some might say. 6:30 ET in Miami, Florida, buckle up boys.

I personally have placed a few wagers on this game on who I believe will win, but I won’t disclose that this year due to superstitions. However, I will talk about how I think this game will unfold and how I WANT it to unfold.

How I want the game to unfold: Points, points, and more points. We all know Mahomes will show up and put up at least 30 on the scoreboard, but for this to happen Jimmy has to do his part. Assuming the Chiefs Spagnuolo led defense can neutralize Raheem “Must Start” Mostert like they did a couple weeks prior to “King Henry” in the Championship game…this game will he decided through the air. Yes, the 49ers have a vaunted defense, one that actually reminds me a lot of my beloved Giants Super Bowl winning defenses, with their relentless waves of pass rushers and opportunistic secondary. However, Patty seems to be matchup proof thus far in his career, with that MLB arm talent and what seems like an Olympic track team of skill position players around him, I believe Reid & Mahome’s run offense versus Shanahan’s offensive scheme/Saleh’s relentless defense are about as even of a matchup as you will find on a Super Bowl Sunday. I believe this is going to be a great, great game in terms of entertainment, with stars draped all over the field on both sides of the ball and both sidelines making exciting play after exciting play. I don’t think this is the first time we will see these teams matchup in February over the next decade as both franchises seem to be set up nicely for sustained success. All of the aforementioned treats for us football fans would’ve been enough, but then FOX is giving us a J-Lo and Shakira half time performance as well? Sign me up. Super Bowl LIV should be a doozy.

Score Prediction: Chiefs 38, 49ers 34

Thanks for reading, will be back for my post game analysis!!

PSA This is just for fun. I’m 23 years old from the North Jersey area. As a kid, I grew up watching and playing sports, while idolizing the likes of LeBron James and Derek Jeter. Basketball was my first true love. As a Celtics and North Carolina basketball fan, I witnessed my fair share of championships and dominance at the highest level of collegiate and professional basketball (Division 1 and the NBA). However, there was a football team who played just 5 miles from my hometown that really was the apple of my New York eye (pun intended) —The New York football Giants. After witnessing the historic championship runs of 2007 and 2011 orchestrated by none other than Giant’s future HALL OF FAME Quarterback, Elisha Manning. I was hooked on obsessing over the team, enduring the misery of heart breaking losses, sulking over constant egregious draft selections, and witnessing the antics of some receiver with a blonde Mohawk. It is now 2020, and like they say “for better or worse” G-men, we are linked at the hip forever.