Contrasting stardom, styles in Super clash
MIAMI — Teams get here, of course. The 49ers and Chiefs are here, earned their way here, of course. But not the same way, of course. Patrick Mahomes might as well have planned the itinerary, piloted the charter flight from Kansas City, checked his teammates into the JW Marriott Turnberry Resort & Spa in Aventura and cooked up some Florida seafood for his teammates during the week here. Has any player ever been more responsible for carrying his team to a Super Bowl than this 24-year old sensation?
Jimmy Garoppolo looks as if he could be starring in “The Bachelor’’ even though he is not starring for his 49ers. Oh, he has come up with some big performances this season, though everyone realizes, at times, and especially thus far in the playoffs, the 28-year old is a member of the band and far from a solo artist.
So, if hyping QB battles is your thing, steer clear of Super Bowl LIV on Sunday. But if the 49ers’ lethal defense vs. the Chiefs’ killer speed gets you going, have at it. If seeing how a historically efficient running game can carry the Niners to a title or if a transcendent athlete such as Mahomes can lift the Chiefs with his enormous physical gifts, this is must-see entertainment.
Garoppolo spent much of the week deflecting game-manager questions — he threw just eight passes in the NFC Championship game — since a powerhouse defense and rushing attack carried the 49ers in the playoffs.
“You want to throw, but when you’re rushing the ball for eight, nine yards a carry it’s like, ‘Do we really want to throw?’” Garoppolo said.
There is only slack-jawed awe for Mahomes. He has started four times in the playoffs and the Chiefs are averaging 37 points in those games. He is the only player in history with more than 10 touchdown passes and no interceptions in the postseason. His career playoff passer rating of 115.0 is the highest in league history.
Mahomes became the league’s youngest Most Valuable Player last year, before Lamar Jackson earned that designation this season. For an encore, he is the heavy favorite to win Super Bowl MVP honors. He has to win the game first, though.
REID AND RIGHT: Everyone loves Big Red. Andy Reid, with 221 victories in the regular season and postseason, is the winningest coach in NFL history to not have won a Super Bowl. In 21 years as a head coach with the Eagles and Chiefs, the 61-year-old has taken 15 teams to the playoffs and has experienced just three losing seasons. He lost five conference championship games and once in the Super Bowl, 24-21 to the Patriots, following the 2004 season.
TAKE YOUR PICK: This has never happened before: tight ends on each team with 1,000 receiving yards. The 49ers’ George Kittle (85-1,053) owns the second-highest grade of any player in this game, according to Pro Football Focus, and the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce (97-1,229) is No. 4. Both are explosive, emotive, nearly unstoppable weapons capable of wrecking a game.
KEEP-AWAY: The 49ers were the second-best rushing offense in the NFL, averaging 144.1 yards per game, and they’ve taken this to the extreme in the playoffs, ripping the Vikings for 186 yards and gashing the Packers for 285 — with relative unknown Raheem Mostert running for 220 yards and four touchdowns in the NFC title game. The Chiefs cannot allow a repeat of that production.
NO LIMIT: 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh likened the Chiefs to “a roster from the Olympic relay team,’’ and he’s not blowing smoke. Tyreek Hill, Mecole Hardman and Sammy Watkins can fly, and the 49ers will be hard-pressed to keep these speedsters in front of them. Hill, who runs 4.29 in the 40-yard dash, is only half-joking when he says, “If I’m healthy and my mind is in the right place, I’d go try out for the Olympics.”