Keys to the Super Bowl, Part 1: When the Chiefs are on defense
Looking at some of the issues I believe will swing the Big Game one way or another when Spags and company are on the field.
The Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl, and the familiar (sort of) 49ers await them.
I say sort of because while the head coach (Kyle Shanahan) and a few of the playmakers (Kittle, Deebo) are the same, a lot has changed in San Francisco since Super Bowl LIV. They’ve added the best RB in the league. They’ve added a top 15 receiver in Brandon Aiyuk. They’ve added the best LT in the game in Trent Williams. And their QB has gone from the slightly gun-shy Jimmy G to Brock Purdy, who has operated Shanahan’s offense with insane efficiency and shown a little more proclivity for making plays than his predecessor.
In other words… the Niners are a monster of an offense. There’s a reason they were first in virtually every offensive statistic that matters. And Steve Spagnuolo is going to have his work cut out for him trying to shut down an offense that almost no one (with a few notable exceptions) has been able to slow down, especially when all the weapons are healthy.
On the other side of the field, though, you have arguably the very best defense in all of football coming off a dominant performance against one of the few offenses in the league that was as good as the 49ers this year. Strength on strength, just like the Super Bowl is supposed to be!
Every week in the playoffs I’ve written about the main things I’m watching for (or keys to the game, whatever you want to call it). I’ve tried to go outside of obvious stuff like who wins the turnover battle, luck, injury, and the things that we all know will be important, instead looking a little deeper at specific matchups that I think will play a big role in the game’s outcome.
This week, we’ll do a two-parter, one for when the Chiefs are on defense and one for when they’re on offense. As you have no doubt guessed, today we’re talking about the keys when Spags has his guys on the field.