Super Bowl LVIII predictions & tips for KC Chiefs vs 49ers!
The 2024 Super Bowl is fast approaching and while we can’t all jet halfway across the world to make the showpiece clash in Las Vegas, it still remains one of the sporting highlights of the year.
To mark the occasion, we’ve called in NFL expert Mark Brown from the Racing Post to get his take on the showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.
He’s provided his two standout bets for the game, which are both priced up with bet365 below. If you’re new to bet365 you can take advantage of this great offer below to get £30 in free bets!
Super Bowl LVIII predictions
Super Bowl LVIII winner prediction – Kansas City Chiefs
It’s been just four years since these two met in Super Bowl LIV in Miami, the San Francisco 49ers blowing a 10-point lead with just seven minutes left as the Kansas City Chiefs ultimately pulled away for a 31-20 win to give Patrick Mahomes a first Lombardi Trophy.
Now chasing a third in what will be a fourth Super Bowl appearance, Mahomes is well aware of his place in NFL history as he bids to catch Tom Brady, who retired as a seven-time winner of the big game.
These aren’t the Chiefs we’ve become accustomed to seeing since Mahomes took over as starter in 2018, though.
In what was a laboured regular season by their high standards, with surprising struggles on offence, it was the defence that became the identity of the team, and coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s unit has shown up in a major way this postseason, giving up an average of just over 13 points per game.
With veteran pass rusher Chris Jones having a knack of showing up in the big moment and elite cornerbacks L’Jarius Snead and Trent McDuffie roaming the defensive backfield, this promises to be a tough matchup for 49ers QB Brock Purdy, who struggled for large portions of their wins over the Packers and Lions.
Purdy did show a new ability to scramble in the NFC title game, however, and can be expected to use his legs plenty in this one also, while it’s clear San Fran’s path to victory is to lean heavily on star running back Christian McCaffrey, who already has 37 carries for 188 yards and 4 TDs this postseason.
It would be no surprise were he to top 25 carries should game script allow, with head coach Kyle Shanahan no doubt aware that the weakness of the Chiefs’ D is in stopping the run.
There’s nobody under more pressure than Shanahan, who was the architect of the Atlanta Falcons’ offence that stalled out in the second half of the famous 28-3 collapse to the Patriots in Super Bowl LI as well as being in charge of this teams’ fourth quarter crumble four years ago.
When the Chiefs have the ball on offence, they’ll be facing a Niners’ D that has been dominated at times this postseason, with coordinator Steve Wilks calling out his unit for a lack of effort in pursuit against the Lions.
That’s a concern when facing Chiefs’ running back Isiah Pacheco, an aggressive runner who has already carried the ball 63 times this postseason, with 3 total TDs.
Since the Week 17 win over the Bengals, Mahomes has really honed in just two receivers, future first ballot Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce, who broke the great Jerry Rice’s postseason receptions record against the Ravens, and rookie wideout Rashee Rice, and it would be a surprise were those two not to dominate the Mahomes target share once more.
With an advantage at QB, head coach and on defence, it’s hard to look beyond the Chiefs, with it also noteworthy that they beat the 49ers 44-23 in San Francisco in Week 7 of last season and are 4-0 in previous visits to Allegiant Stadium.
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