As the NFL world gets a small taste of how life will feel after February 11th, where the first Sunday sans football reared its unbecoming head today in the midst of the fun, but ultimately underwhelming All-Star/Pro Bowl break, eyes turn towards the main prize of the offseason – the Super Bowl.
Kansas City Chiefs- San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl On Everyone’s Mind
Preparations for the Big Game have been ramping up ever since the San Francisco 49ers last gasp comeback win against the Detroit Lions, after trailing by 17 points at half. And punditry has already begun , and on all sports talk TV and radio the game to decide the winner of the 2023/24 Lombardi Trophy will be likely the sole topic on everyone’s mind.
Most popularly – who will actually come out victorious between the Patrick Mahomes-lead Kansas City Chiefs, and the Brock Purdy-lead San Francisco 49ers. Right now, the 49ers are 2 point favorites in the contest, and Ross Tucker, former NFL offensive lineman turned NFL analyst, certainly has some strong opinions on the Chiefs entering the game as underdogs.
“How in the world are the 49ers favored in this game? The Chiefs, I felt like, were clearly the better team in all three of the playoff games – including at Buffalo and at Baltimore.
“The Niners, guys, I can name six plays right now off the top of my head in the Packers game where if they went the other way, the Packers win that game.… And then the Lions were killing the Niners until they peed down their leg like I’ve never seen before, one of the most epic meltdowns of all time. Honestly, I’m not a Lions fan, but that was hard to watch.
“So, you’re telling me you’re going to say the Niners are the favorite? They’re like going off yards per play from the regular season, give me a break, bro. You’ve got to be kidding me. In a close game, you’re going to take Brock Purdy and Kyle Shanahan over Mahomes and Andy Reid? Yeah, not me. I’ve seen this movie too many times – I’m going to take the Chiefs.”
Ross Tucker Thinks The Kansas City Chiefs Should Be Favorites In Super Bowl LVII
Tucker makes some good points – the Chiefs have outclassed their opponents in their 3 wins – 2 on the road – en route to a 4th Super Bowl berth in 5 years, whist Kyle Shanahan’s team should consider themselves lucky to even be in contention to win San Francisco’s 6th ever Super Bowl.
And, of course, who would not the all-world Patrick Mahomes over the impressively clutch, but very much mortal, Brock Purdy. Yet, as we know, Super Bowls are not simply quarterback head-to-head matchups, otherwise Cam Newton would have a Super Bowl, and Brady would have an additional 3.
What Are The Most Important Factors That Contribute To Winning The Lombardi Trophy?
Defense, scheme, situational coaching all play large factors, of which both team highlight the cream of the crop for the NFL, in winning football’s most coveted prize. And much of the hype on Mahomes right now seems to be driven from the his insurmountable play the last three games, rather than his cumulative performance across the entire season – even if the playoffs are the most critical time – so there is a tendency to overvalue (somehow) his value.
Not to mention the obvious fact that prices change according to supply and demand – so if bookmakers were continuing to take lots of big money, smart money on the Chiefs, the line would have already shifted to Kansas City being favored a long time ago. So you can call where we are at now the ‘market equilibrium’.
But ultimately, with the line being under a field goal, this very much anyone’s game, let’s see if Tucker proves himself right!
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