Steelers Now Staff 49ers-Chiefs Super Bowl Picks, Predictions
The big game is finally here, as the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will kick off in Super Bowl LVIII at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday from Las Vegas to wrap up the 2023 NFL season.
But the big question on everyone’s mind is who will win the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the night. Our Steelers Now staff has assembled our predictions for this year’s big game, and most of us are thinking the Chiefs are set to do it again.
Alan Saunders
The old adage is that defense wins championships. But lately, that hasn’t necessarily been the case. While great defenses can provide a team a great regular season record and a great path to playing in the Super Bowl, the team that gets better quarterback play has fared better in the postseason.
Patrick Mahomes did not have a banner year in 2023. It’s clear that he’s hurting from a lack of quality targets beyond Travis Kelce. But he’s playing his best ball in the playoffs. Over the last three weeks, Mahomes has thrown for 718 yards, averaged seven yards per attempt, hasn’t thrown an interception and has a passer rating of 100.7. The Chiefs can put the ball in his hands and let him win the game and feel good about that.
Can the San Francisco 49ers say the same thing? The San Francisco defense is great. Its running game is great. The 49ers offense has better weapons. But if push comes to shove, can Brock Purdy out-duel Mahomes to win this thing? I don’t think so.
Kansas City 42, San Francisco 39
Nick Farabaugh
The Chiefs have a lot more working against them with standout defensive lineman Charles Omenihu and elite left guard Joe Thuney out. In addition to that, the 49ers match up well against the defense and should be able to get some traction on the ground. And the 49ers boast a fantastic defensive line that gets ignored in the discussions of guys like Fred Warner, Deebo Samuel, and other stars.
I’m also not sure the Chiefs defense has seen this good and loaded of an offense yet. They leads me to make the prediction for the 49ers….but the Chiefs have 15. No matter what happens, the Chiefs having Patrick Mahomes is an equalizer in games such as this one. It’s hard to pick against a guy like him, but there’s so many factors to me that are pointing to the 49ers, so maybe that’s why Mahomes pull it off again, but I’m going with the 49ers, very cautiously.
Prediction: San Francisco 27, Kansas City 21
Derrick Bell
The Super Bowl rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers has the chance to be one of those instances where the sequel out-delivers the original. This is quite possibly the best offense that Kyle Shanahan has ever constructed, with a death lineup of terrifying weapons to go along with a defense that is stingy when playing with a lead. On the other side, the 2023 Chiefs is just different from what we typically know of Andy Reid coached teams. Their defense has been the better, more consistent unit all season, led by a phenomenal secondary but they still have the usual suspects on offense starting with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
With several legendary coaches and a plethora of all-world players in the fold, this has all the makings of a classic and it wouldn’t surprise me if this ended up being one of the best Super Bowl’s that we have ever witnessed. Ultimately, San Francisco is the more complete team from top to bottom but at the end of the day, I simply cannot bet against Mahomes with stakes this high. There aren’t a ton of exploitable matchups to expose but look for the Chiefs to try to hit some perimeter runs on offense and attack the right side of the Niners offensive line to force Brock Purdy into some mistakes. Mahomes, Kelce and Chris Jones just seem to find that extra gear in these spots and I think they’ll provide a handful of signature moments en route to a win.
Prediction: Kansas City 27, San Francisco 26
Zachary Smith
The “same old Chiefs” are once again representing the AFC in the Super Bowl. Except the “same old Chiefs” are actually a very different version of themselves. Patrick Mahomes is still the best player on the planet but outside of Travis Kelce, Rashee Rice and Isiah Pacheco, the Chiefs playmakers left a lot to be desired for the better part of the season. The defense under Steve Spagnulo has carried the team to this point, despite boasting a plethora of non-household name players.
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