The 49ers face a daunting task in trying to dethrone Mahomes and the Chiefs
Patrick Mahomes may not be the greatest quarterback of all time yet, but he is trending in that direction. It is a subjective measure, with most astute followers of the National Football League placing Tom Brady, who played in 10 Super Bowls, nine with the New England Patriots and his last with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, leading them to a 31-9 victory over Mahomes’s Kansas City Chiefs three years ago, as the GOAT.
Brady was 7-3 in the NFL’s preeminent game. At 28 years old, Mahomes will take the field at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas this Sunday (6:30 p.m.) in Super Bowl LVIII (58) for his fourth appearance. He is 2-1 and the Chiefs are the defending champions, having defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in a gripping match up last February.
On Monday, Mahomes said the separation between him and Brady, who retired after last season, is sizable. “I’m not even close to halfway. I’ve got to do what I can to beat a great 49ers team and get my third (ring). Ask me that question in 15 years. Seven (Super Bowl wins) seems like a long ways away still.”
This year’s game is a rematch of Super Bowl LIV (54), in which Mahomes and the Chiefs beat the 49ers 31-20 for his first. Mahomes’s counterpart is 24-year-old Brock Purdy, who was the last pick in the 2022 draft, No. 262 overall, out of Iowa State. But he defied long odds and emerged as San Francisco’s starting quarterback a season ago and today hopes to join Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Steve Young as Super Bowl-winning 49ers QBs.
“He was Mr. Irrelevant (a moniker ascribed to the last pick in the draft) and he’s done a great job,” said Chiefs head coach Andy Reid. “I remember talking to his coach at Iowa State, and he said (Purdy) changed that program around, and he’s doing the same here (with the 49ers). He’s doing a phenomenal job.”
The challenge for Purdy and the NFC’s No. 1 seed 49ers (14-5), who are talent-loaded with seven All-Pros and nine players selected to the 2024 Pro Bowl, is daunting.
Although the 49ers are 1.5 point favorites following their 34-31 victory over the Detroit Lions in the NFC championship game, the AFC champion Chiefs are arguably the better and more equipped team, factoring in intangibles such as collective Super Bowl experience and having the best player in the world in Mahomes as the game’s sole force multiplier.
The Chiefs reached this stage by defeating the Miami Dolphins 26-7 in their wild card match up, then winning consecutive games on the road, taking down the AFC’s No. 2 seed Buffalo Bills in the divisional round, followed by a victory over the No. 1 seed Baltimore Ravens 17-10.
The pick here is 24-20 Chiefs.
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