Kurtenbach

But far too often in recent weeks — and particularly in the playoffs — that bet on Young has crapped out.

Perhaps fortunes will change in Las Vegas.

The 49ers thought their defensive talent would free Young — a free agent at the end of the season — to play at a Pro Bowl level again. He has received a steady diet of 1-on-1s opposite of Nick Bosa, but his play has only worsened as his Niners tenure has progressed. He'd be sitting on the bench for most of the game if the 49ers didn't need him to take so many snaps.

But Young has an incredible opportunity in the Super Bowl. He can win a title and make himself a mountain of cash in the process.

And the more I break down this Kansas City-San Francisco matchup, the more those two possibilities seem intertwined.

Don't let the revisionist history of the past week fool you: These Chiefs are anything but a juggernaut this season. This is not the same caliber of team the 49ers played the last time the squads faced off in the Super Bowl. This is a lesser Chiefs team than the one that won last year's Super Bowl.

And amid the Chiefs' deficiencies this season — and there were more than a handful — the biggest and most obvious one was the play of their offensive tackles.

There's no use sugar-coating it: Jawaan Taylor and Donovan Smith are bad. Taylor was rated the worst tackle in football by Pro Football Focus, and Smith was sixth-to-last. Together, they're the worst bookend pair in the league, by a long shot.

Bosa had a four-word critique for the Chiefs tackles Thursday: “They hold a lot.”

They do. They also false start a lot. They have to.

The Chiefs' struggles down the stretch (five losses in eight games from Oct. 29 to Christmas) can be pinned directly on them. Patrick Mahomes was a shell of himself partly because he had mediocre receivers, but more specifically because he felt the omnipresent threat of being drilled into the ground by a defensive end every time he dropped back to pass.

The Chiefs figured out how to survive without good tackle play. Their interior offensive line is great, and Mahomes is even better — they managed.

But a large part of that formula for success was playing three teams in the playoffs with unimpressive (or downright bad) defensive-line pass rushes in Miami, Buffalo, and Baltimore.

And unless Young shows up for the Super Bowl, the 49ers might be the fourth team on that list when all is said and done.

Bosa is playing at an All-Pro level, but far too often over the final few weeks of the regular season and particularly in the playoffs, he has been operating on an island.

If he doesn't get home — often against two or three blockers — no one is getting near the quarterback with the Niners.

Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave has been a shell of himself since Week 12. Knee and hamstring injuries have robbed him of his burst off the line. Considering he's a pass rusher, first and foremost, the fact that he's hit the quarterback once since Thanksgiving is a massive issue.

Arik Armstead, battling plantar fasciitis, has also registered one quarterback hit since Thanksgiving. At least he has the excuse of missing five games with that injury.

Javon Kinlaw has two quarterback hits since Thanksgiving, but he's untrustworthy — his poor play is why Hargrave was signed this past offseason. And with Armstead out, Kinlaw saw twice his usual number of snaps per game but didn't do anything to change his status with the team.

And opposite Bosa, Clelin Ferrell — a positive, edge-setting complement — is injured and won't play in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Randy Gregory is making it a point to be run out of Santa Clara like he was run out of Denver midseason. I don't know if there's a more aggravating player to watch in the league. The Lions loved him, though: Anytime he was in the game, they ran right at him to wild success.

This 49ers defense was built around its defensive line. And yet, heading into the Super Bowl, that defensive line is downright bad.

Young can change that.

Of all the underperformers on the Niners' line, Young has been No. 1.

He was stood up again and again by middling tackles this postseason — Detroit's Taylor Decker and Green Bay's Yosh Nijman and Rasheed Walker — and his effort in the run game has been embarrassing. His light jog and lame arm tackle attempt (if you can even call it that) on the Lions' third touchdown of the NFC championship game is his defining moment as a Niner.

If that's how he performs against the Chiefs, the 49ers' most significant possible advantage will be neutralized. The Niners will need to be perfect on the back end of the defense and elite against the run to hold Kansas City under 28 points. They're daring the greatest quarterback of all time (give it a few more years) to carve you up. That seems like a bad policy.

If Young jogs through the Super Bowl, he'll also cost himself tens of millions of dollars in the process. His recent tape isn't going to land the big, multiyear deal so many expected him to receive only a few weeks ago and all eyes are going to be on his play against Kansas City.

A big game in the Big Game, however, would wash away all that bad tape.

It's not a question of skill with Young. It's a question of motor.

It seems like a ridiculous ask, but if he can gear himself up for the Super Bowl and tap into any of that physical talent he has, he can do more than just impact the game — he could dominate it.

And having watched Super Bowl LV, I know what happens next. It's really quite simple:

If Chase Young wins, the Niners win.