Super Bowl LIV: Chiefs vs 49ers Game Thread

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Oct 31, 2013
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Teams:
Kansas City Chiefs (AFL/AFC) v. San Francisco 49ers (NFC)

Date and Time: February 2, 2020, 6:30PM

Venue: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL

Early odds: Chiefs - 1.5, 53 o/u

National anthem singer: Demi Lovato

Halftime show: Shakira and Jennifer Lopez

AX nickname for game: Joe Montana Bowl
 

Old Fart Tree

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I assume the Steeler fans are rooting for KC? As a pats fan I don’t really care if the Niners get to six Super Bowls so whatever.
 

Ale Xander

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If the 49ers win, Jimmy G will have more rings than Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, and Ken O'Brien combined as a starter.
 
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Jerry’s Curl

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Feb 6, 2018
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The 49ers will try to run the ball with Mostert as they obviously don’t want a shootout with Mahomes. It will be interesting to see what defensive schemes the 49ers use. It’s very hard to play man vs the Chiefs. They need to get more pressure on the QB then the Titans did.
 

Marbleheader

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Rooting for SF. Don't really care about total number of titles, Patriots had a run that will likely never be matched. Their place in history is secure.

Kind of sucks this is the first of likely a long series of Super Bowl Sundays that I'll only have a lukewarm interest in.
 

CoffeeNerdness

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I'm quite looking forward to this match-up. I think from a neutral perspective this is about as good as ine could hope for. Only thing that bugs me is the presence of Tyreek. Hopefully there's a bright, unfriendly media spotlight on this a-hole in the pregame media frenzy.
 

DanoooME

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The 49ers will try to run the ball with Mostert as they obviously don’t want a shootout with Mahomes. It will be interesting to see what defensive schemes the 49ers use. It’s very hard to play man vs the Chiefs. They need to get more pressure on the QB then the Titans did.
They play mostly zone because Robert Saleh came from the Seahawks and implemented a lot of elements of their defense.
 

InstaFace

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The 49ers will try to run the ball with Mostert as they obviously don’t want a shootout with Mahomes.

It will be interesting to see what defensive schemes the 49ers use.

It’s very hard to play man vs the Chiefs.

They need to get more pressure on the QB then the Titans did.
I don't understand posts that try to reason footballing things like this.

Sentence 1: What the defense does vs Mahomes has almost nothing to do with what the offense will try to do vs the KC D. Whether we have a shootout or not is a consequence of strategic decisions, not some goal to accept or reject.
Sentence 2: OK, how? This is a non-statement
Sentences 3 & 4: Cap'n Obvious. How? And what does one do about it?

You basically just John Madden'd it. I suppose they should try to score more points than the other guys too, huh?
 

InstaFace

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I'm quite looking forward to this match-up. I think from a neutral perspective this is about as good as ine could hope for. Only thing that bugs me is the presence of Tyreek. Hopefully there's a bright, unfriendly media spotlight on this a-hole in the pregame media frenzy.
Sadly, any org that devotes even a passing thought to any player's malfeasance will be blacklisted by the NFL, or their execs fear they will be, so they'll self-censor long before it hits the airwaves. This is what we miss with Deadspin being gone, as cynical as they were they weren't afraid o' nobody.

I can't believe we have to rely on the likes of Barstool for any hope of reminding the audience that we're watching shitty people here.
 

johnmd20

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Bet the Chiefs. Andy Reid is winning a Super Bowl. The Chiefs offense is playing at full capacity right now, they are too fast, too good, and have too many awesome skill players.

Mahomes is much better than Jimmy G and he will be the difference. Jimmy G just throws way way way too many horrendous passes.
 

j44thor

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Aug 1, 2006
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I don't understand posts that try to reason footballing things like this.

Sentence 1: What the defense does vs Mahomes has almost nothing to do with what the offense will try to do vs the KC D. Whether we have a shootout or not is a consequence of strategic decisions, not some goal to accept or reject.
Sentence 2: OK, how? This is a non-statement
Sentences 3 & 4: Cap'n Obvious. How? And what does one do about it?

You basically just John Madden'd it. I suppose they should try to score more points than the other guys too, huh?
Thanks for adding so much to the convo.
If you don't like a post don't just call out why it sucks, add something to it. Otherwise you can always simply ignore it and move on.
 

InstaFace

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Thanks for adding so much to the convo.
If you don't like a post don't just call out why it sucks, add something to it. Otherwise you can always simply ignore it and move on.
Because we're in for two weeks of the dumbiest of dumbing-down, and better to try and stem the tide now so people who actually think before posting can exchange thoughts.

I think I've been adding plenty to SoSH lately, enough that I can plead for people to raise the bar above "talk radio at 3am" levels of discourse. That shouldn't require some special act, it should be a given.
 

johnmd20

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I don't understand posts that try to reason footballing things like this.

Sentence 1: What the defense does vs Mahomes has almost nothing to do with what the offense will try to do vs the KC D. Whether we have a shootout or not is a consequence of strategic decisions, not some goal to accept or reject.
Sentence 2: OK, how? This is a non-statement
Sentences 3 & 4: Cap'n Obvious. How? And what does one do about it?

You basically just John Madden'd it. I suppose they should try to score more points than the other guys too, huh?
This is a complete overreaction to that post.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Oct 1, 2015
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Bet the Chiefs. Andy Reid is winning a Super Bowl. The Chiefs offense is playing at full capacity right now, they are too fast, too good, and have too many awesome skill players.

Mahomes is much better than Jimmy G and he will be the difference. Jimmy G just throws way way way too many horrendous passes.
There are many examples in NFL history of a dynamic offense getting stymied by a good defense in the SB. Enough, anyway, so that it's clear to me that the 49ers have a legit chance in this game. Very much so. They'll have to play really well, and there's two weeks to break it all down, but they have a chance. JG is good enough to win this game. The defense is good. The pass rush is athletic and disruptive. They have great great skill players and a really good offensive line. They have the pieces. KC may still be too much though. But this is the best matchup we could have hoped for not involving the Patriots.
 

johnmd20

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Because we're in for two weeks of the dumbiest of dumbing-down, and better to try and stem the tide now so people who actually think before posting can exchange thoughts.

I think I've been adding plenty to SoSH lately, enough that I can plead for people to raise the bar above "talk radio at 3am" levels of discourse. That shouldn't require some special act, it should be a given.
Ohhhhh, look at the big brain on Bret. Not only are you overreacting, you didn't even make many great points. What the SF offense does could definitely impact what the KC offense does. If SF keeps them off the field with long drives, it will change the game. Think the Giants beating the Bills in 1991.

And what is wrong with saying truths about the game? All of a sudden, that's verboten? Why?

It was a fair post and you're exploding all over it like he said, "If the Niners pray to the right crystals, they are certain to win the game. But if they pray for a gold crystal, they are going to lose because the Niners helmets are gold."
 

InstaFace

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sure, let's say some more "truths about the game". Water is wet. Miami is warm. Players are strong. Hooray! Aren't you glad you spent your few precious moments on planet earth being educated by that?

Like, what he said was so useless it's Not Even Wrong. I'd almost rather read posts like your crystals example. He's not the only offender in this regard and sure, I'm picking on him, but I'm just so goddamn tired of JIM I THINK TODAY THEY'RE GOING TO TRY TO MOVE THE BALL TOWARD THE OTHER TEAM'S GOAL level of Footbaw Analysis that I'm cranky. If I wanted that I could go to almost literally any other place that discusses sports.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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There are many examples in NFL history of a dynamic offense getting stymied by a good defense in the SB. Enough, anyway, so that it's clear to me that the 49ers have a legit chance in this game. Very much so. They'll have to play really well, and there's two weeks to break it all down, but they have a chance. JG is good enough to win this game. The defense is good. The pass rush is athletic and disruptive. They have great great skill players and a really good offensive line. They have the pieces. KC may still be too much though. But this is the best matchup we could have hoped for not involving the Patriots.
I'd go one step further. I like how the 49ers match up against the Chiefs and think the line (PICKEM or Chiefs -1) is a pretty fair representation of things.

The Chiefs did a nice job on Henry but their run defense was 29th in the league by DVOA. I think SF has more ways to attack them in the running game than Tennessee did, particularly outside.

I thought the biggest difference between the Ravens and Chiefs games for the Titans was that their D line dominated the former and got beaten pretty badly in the latter. The Chiefs have so many weapons that your only hope is really to beat them up front and disrupt everything from there. SF has the horses to do that in theory.
 

DJnVa

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Dec 16, 2010
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I don't understand posts that try to reason footballing things like this.

Sentence 1: What the defense does vs Mahomes has almost nothing to do with what the offense will try to do vs the KC D. Whether we have a shootout or not is a consequence of strategic decisions, not some goal to accept or reject.
His statement was 100% valid. The Niners, in theory, could very easily decide to run the ball a lot because of KC's offense.

Teams that feel they cannot keep up with an offense like KC's elect to "shorten" the game by running the ball and burning more time off the clock. That doesn't mean it will work out, especially if Mostert breaks off those long runs again.
 
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Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Oct 31, 2013
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I don't understand posts that try to reason footballing things like this.

Sentence 1: What the defense does vs Mahomes has almost nothing to do with what the offense will try to do vs the KC D. Whether we have a shootout or not is a consequence of strategic decisions, not some goal to accept or reject.
Sentence 2: OK, how? This is a non-statement
Sentences 3 & 4: Cap'n Obvious. How? And what does one do about it?

You basically just John Madden'd it. I suppose they should try to score more points than the other guys too, huh?
I love you but calm down and pace yourself. There will be a lot worse posts than which you replied to, in the next 13 days.
 

johnmd20

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sure, let's say some more "truths about the game". Water is wet. Miami is warm. Players are strong. Hooray! Aren't you glad you spent your few precious moments on planet earth being educated by that?

Like, what he said was so useless it's Not Even Wrong. I'd almost rather read posts like your crystals example. He's not the only offender in this regard and sure, I'm picking on him, but I'm just so goddamn tired of JIM I THINK TODAY THEY'RE GOING TO TRY TO MOVE THE BALL TOWARD THE OTHER TEAM'S GOAL level of Footbaw Analysis that I'm cranky. If I wanted that I could go to almost literally any other place that discusses sports.
You're a great poster and you often have phenomenal ideas, thoughts, and analyses. I genuinely enjoy reading almost everything(99%) you write. I want to get that out front, because you're losing you're mind about this and it's out of character, especially because what he said wasn't objectionable or a waste in any way.

You ranting about the post, however, is a waste. Please try to realize you're missing something here.
 

Soxy

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I'd go one step further. I like how the 49ers match up against the Chiefs and think the line (PICKEM or Chiefs -1) is a pretty fair representation of things.

The Chiefs did a nice job on Henry but their run defense was 29th in the league by DVOA. I think SF has more ways to attack them in the running game than Tennessee did, particularly outside.

I thought the biggest difference between the Ravens and Chiefs games for the Titans was that their D line dominated the former and got beaten pretty badly in the latter. The Chiefs have so many weapons that your only hope is really to beat them up front and disrupt everything from there. SF has the horses to do that in theory.
It's really, really hard for a defense to maintain a high level of play for 60 minutes in a Super Bowl. Last year's game was an outlier, and even then, the Rams defense eventually ended up cracking in the 4th quarter.

We've seen it time and time again in recent years, defenses wear down in Super Bowls as the game goes on. Belichick has mentioned before that they basically go into the game expecting it to happen.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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It has been 17 years since I truly did not care who won the Super Bowl. No Patriots, no Steelers, no Ravens, no Peyton. Pretty crazy. I definitely lean pro-SF, but am firmly in “hoping for an exciting game” territory.

Imperative to make Mahomes uncomfortable and keep the massive plays to a minimum. Turn those backbreaking scramble first downs into incompletes or sacks.

KC may be able to slow down the run game some if they just dare SF to pass but SF is more equipped to throw if needed. Shanny can call a hell of a game. KC has been starting slow, so the Niners can put themselves into position to play the type of game they want.
 

BaseballJones

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Oct 1, 2015
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I'd go one step further. I like how the 49ers match up against the Chiefs and think the line (PICKEM or Chiefs -1) is a pretty fair representation of things.

The Chiefs did a nice job on Henry but their run defense was 29th in the league by DVOA. I think SF has more ways to attack them in the running game than Tennessee did, particularly outside.

I thought the biggest difference between the Ravens and Chiefs games for the Titans was that their D line dominated the former and got beaten pretty badly in the latter. The Chiefs have so many weapons that your only hope is really to beat them up front and disrupt everything from there. SF has the horses to do that in theory.
Since Mahomes has returned, KC has scored 32, 24, 40, 23, 23, 26, 31, 51, and 35 points, for an average of 31.7 points a game. That's really good, but it's not *insanely* good. During that stretch, they've also gained 530, 310, 259, 346, 419, 350, 336, 434, and 404 yards, for an average of 376.4 yards a game. Again, really good, but not insanely good. Take out the two outliers (530, 259) and the average is 371.2.

So their offense is obviously really really good. Definitely elite. But it's not *historically* good. It was much better last year when they averaged 35.3 points a game and 425.6 yards a game. And the Patriots did a pretty nice job on them in the AFCCG (at Arrowhead, no less), holding them to 31 points and 290 yards. This 49er defense is probably better than last year's Patriots' defense. They definitely have a better pass rush. I wouldn't be shocked if KC puts up 40 because they're more than capable of that. But I also wouldn't be shocked if SF held them to like 24ish points. If so, I think SF's offense (which is criminally underrated - they were the #2 scoring and #4 yardage offense in the NFL this year...better rankings than KC's) can absolutely put up 27ish points on KC.

From a football fan perspective, this is about as good and interesting a game as you can get.
 

RedOctober3829

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I think this is a fascinating matchup. KC has taken advantage of two teams that don't have strong secondaries the last two games. SF's secondary and pass rush is much better than either Houston's or Tennessee's as well. Day and Buckner have the ability to push the inside of the pocket back and Bosa/Armstead/Ford are athletic enough to keep Mahomes in the pocket from the outside. It will be interesting what the adrenaline rush and the longer halftime of a Super Bowl does to a finesse-type of offense that the Chiefs have. Mahomes plays with a lot of emotion and has never experienced an SB before so I wonder if fatigue will become a big factor. It will be a factor for the SF pass rush that is for sure.

These two teams played last year in Week 3(pre-Jimmy G injury) and KC won 38-27. KC ran out to a 35-7 lead.
 

E5 Yaz

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Falling back on my rule of thumb ... when I don't have a particularly strong rooting or hating interest, pull for the team that hasn't won in the longest time

Go Chefs!
 

BaseballJones

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From an SI article today:

The Rest of the AFC Must Feel Sick: Goodness, behind Mahomes, Kansas City is poised to rule this conference for—conservatively—a decade.

I mean, wait. Just a couple of weeks ago, Lamar Jackson was the best player on the best team in the conference, with a SB-winning head coach and a system that simply hadn't been stopped. Suddenly it's KC that is poised to rule the conference for (conservatively) a decade?

If it was Baltimore in the Super Bowl instead of KC, wouldn't that headline say the same thing, just changing "Mahomes, Kansas City" to "Jackson, Baltimore"?

And wait. til. these. guys. get. paid. Then they'll see how hard it is to put a quality team together when the QB is making megabucks.
 

mikeot

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Bet the Chiefs. Andy Reid is winning a Super Bowl. The Chiefs offense is playing at full capacity right now, they are too fast, too good, and have too many awesome skill players.

Mahomes is much better than Jimmy G and he will be the difference. Jimmy G just throws way way way too many horrendous passes.

So the Niner defense is a non-factor here? Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers would beg to differ, methinks. Put off the Mahomie coronation for at least one more season.
 
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cshea

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Easier said than done, but SF needs to get pressure up the middle on Mahomes with the edge rushes being disciplined and keeping him in the pocket. Can’t rush up field and past him giving him a lane to the edge. Once Mahomes gets to the edge, the D is pretty much fucked. If they can’t sack him with quick pressure in the middle, at least make him get rid of the ball quickly.
 

Bongorific

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I'm quite looking forward to this match-up. I think from a neutral perspective this is about as good as ine could hope for. Only thing that bugs me is the presence of Tyreek. Hopefully there's a bright, unfriendly media spotlight on this a-hole in the pregame media frenzy.
Their won’t be, so I’m taking every chance I can to remind everyone what a piece of human garbage that organization is supporting. The entire organization should be shamed. Fuck them all the way to a blowout loss.
 

Ferm Sheller

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Naw, a blowout is the easy way out. I want them to lose a heartbreaker on an objectively wrong call.
 

brandonchristensen

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No, on a Tyreek Hill dropped pass in the end zone would be the best.
Near sideline TD catch where his foot is clearly inbounds but the ref calls the play dead. They have no challenge because Reid used his to defend his team when the officials called a play wrong, and they double down on the wrong call.

Chefs lose by 6. Evidence comes out against Hill and Suggs having an underground kid boxing ring and they’re both expelled from the game.
 

PedroKsBambino

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If we want the "punishment" to really fit, then it should be something like this:

KC is up by 2 and looking to kill the clock in the final minute. On a third and two they run for what appears to be a game-clinching first down...but Hill gets a 15 yard personal foul (stopping the clock) for punching the helmet of a Niner on the opposite side of the field, right in front of a referee, on the third down play. The flag negates the game-clinching first down run, stops the clock, and forces a 3rd and 17 incompletion from Mahomes (ideally a dropped pass by Hill), followed by a punt. Jimmy G leads the Niners down for a game-winning field goal as the clock expires to win the Super Bowl. And in the post game interview a reporter asks the Chiefs "did it occur to the coaching staff that having a player with a demonstrated history of violence on the team could lead to an ill-timed penalty?"

For the record, I generally like Andy Reid but, as above indicates, despise human garbage Tyreek Hill.
 

bankshot1

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I think we need the Chiefs to lose in OT, with Mahomes never touching the ball.

Chief nation's outrage would be shake the nation, and their tears would overflow the Mississippi.

A national debate would ensue.
 

johnmd20

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So the Niner defense is a non-factor here? Russell Wilson and Aaron Rogers would beg to differ, methinks. Put off the Mahomie coronation for at least one more season.
SF stopped a modest GB team and a modest Minnesota team. They are great, no doubt about it, they are in the Super Bowl. But, right now, the Chiefs are unstoppable. Until I see otherwise, I'm going to assume they cannot be stopped. Jimmy G will probably have to make some throws to win.

I'm saying he won't make them.
 

heavyde050

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So the Niner defense is a non-factor here? Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers would beg to differ, methinks. Put off the Mahomie coronation for at least one more season.
Russell Wilson gave that SF defense all it could handle without any RBs. I mean he really could have beat them two out of three times basically by himself.

The 49ers did kill Rodgers the first game, but he played a bit better yesterday.