With the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers winning their conference championship games, they will be facing off in a rematch of Super Bowl 54 on Sunday, Feb. 11 in Las Vegas, Nevada. While the Super Bowl is headlined by championship-caliber football, it will also be headlined by the numerous commercials throughout the TV breaks and a halftime show by R&B singer Usher. Swifties everywhere will be happy to know that another headline will be the expected appearance of Pop singer/songwriter Taylor Swift who has gained attention for dating Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce.
The Chiefs’ road to the big game has been extremely unique compared to prior years. Their first game of the year resulted in a loss to the Detroit Lions 21-20. They responded with a six-game winning streak which catapulted them to the No. 1 seed in the American Football Conference (AFC). A loss to the 2-5 Denver Broncos started to highlight some cracks in the reigning Super Bowl champions’ foundation and their vulnerability was exposed again after a tough loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Chiefs ended the season with a few bad losses, including one to the Las Vegas Raiders that looked like their dynasty was over. However, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the defense stepped up tremendously in the playoffs as they held the Dolphins to seven points, scrapped by the Bills 27-24, and held the MVP favorite and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson to 10 points.
As for the 49ers, they had a much steadier road to the Super Bowl, as they experienced some early losses before getting hot at the right time. After a 5-0 start and a 32-point victory against the Dallas Cowboys, the Niners lost three straight games to non-playoff teams, raising questions about how good QB Brock Purdy really is but he quickly proved his haters wrong.
The 49ers would only lose two more games for the rest of the season, one to the best regular-season team in the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens. The other loss was to the Rams as the Niners didn’t play their starters. Finishing with a 12-5 record, the Niners earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs. After narrowly losing to the Packers, the Niners defeated the Detroit Lions in the National Football Conference (NFC) Championship 34-31.
The last time these teams met in the Super Bowl, the Chiefs defeated the 49ers 31-20 with an impressive fourth-quarter performance by Mahomes. This year’s matchup is different as the Niners have better skill-position players including wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel along with running back Christian McCaffrey. Kansas City also has less talent on the offensive end as WR Tyreek Hill left for the Dolphins along with many offensive linemen leaving for free agency.
Without further ado, let’s get into the Collegiate staff picks for Super Bowl 58.
Pierson: I have a team I’m rooting for and a team I think is going to win. The Chiefs’ defense has improved a lot since the last time these two teams played including breakout defensive back Trent McDuffie. Kansas City has the second-rated defense in the playoffs as they only give up 322.7 yards per game (YPG) along with 13.7 points per game (PPG). This season, Purdy has struggled when he’s faced tough defenses, including a performance against the Cleveland Browns which saw Purdy throw for 125 yards and an interception. Mahomes has had a down year but I trust his ability to step up in the biggest game of the season, something he’s done before multiple times. The game flow of the Super Bowl will be a slow start as both teams will struggle to score. Each defense will have their moments, but I believe as the game continues, both offenses will begin to have success. I can see the Niners being able to run the ball with McCaffrey as well as the Chiefs being able to throw the ball across the field. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Niners will hold a 24-21 lead. Similar to Super Bowl 54, the Niners will crumble in the fourth quarter while Mahomes executes to the best of his ability. A go-ahead touchdown by Kelce will give KC’s defense all the momentum they need, as McDuffie will get a game-sealing interception to win the Super Bowl 31-27.
James: Despite the fact that I’m still bitter about the 49ers beating the Detroit Lions to go to the Super Bowl, I have them beating the Chiefs. The main reason is the Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes have already won two Super Bowls (2020 and 2022) in the last four years and it’s time for a new champion to be crowned. Another big reason is the Chiefs have had an up-and-down season. Losing Travis Kelce in Week One resulted in limited offensive talent in their loss to the Lions. Finishing the season 11-6 was unexpected given the Chiefs’ success in recent years. The 49ers have a great offense behind McCaffrey and Aiyuk. I have the 49ers beating the Chiefs, 31-28 in a back-and-forth affair. The Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce relationship has been a storyline of the Chiefs season. Many NFL fans have been skeptical about Swift’s presence at games during the season, saying she is ruining the game. Personally, I feel the NFL has not been kind about leaving these two out of the spotlight especially when showing Swift constantly in the booth during crucial Chiefs plays and commercials. The relationship is more of a money grab for the NFL and a distraction that could bring some unneeded postgame gossip and the rebirth of a rumor that Kelce and Swift are getting engaged if the Chiefs win.
Blace: As a Lions fan, I am still heartbroken that the 49ers beat us and I can’t bring myself to root for them this Sunday. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a big fan of the Chiefs either, but I feel like I have to root for them. I’m rather new to football and had a family who didn’t follow the league very much, so I haven’t deep-dived into the analytics of this sport to calculate who mathematically could win this game. I understand some numbers can show how this game can go either way and people tend to not like how the Chiefs have already had their time in the spotlight. Both teams had worked hard to get to this game and whoever wins they deserve it because they put in the work. But at the end of the day, I really don’t care about this year’s Super Bowl, my team is gone, I’d rather root for the Chiefs than the 49ers, and I’m mostly excited for the food.
Collegiate Editor’s James Herold, Blace Carpenter, and Pierson Van Gorp contributed to this story.
