Defense wins titles? We’re about to find out
In one corner, we have the offensive juggernaut from the AFC spearheaded by its highlightreel quarterback. In the other, a stingy take-noprisoners from the NFC personified by its brash veteran cornerback. Patrick Mahomes and the explosive Kansas City Chiefs versus Richard Sherman and the suffocating San Francisco 49ers.
To say we’re in for a good Super Bowl tilt is a gross understatement.
This one is for all the marbles. But more than anything, this matchup will prove if legendary football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant is right. He coined the phrase “defense wins championships.”
Tale of the Tape
The 49ers — without question — boast the better defense in this contest.
This isn’t shade on the Chiefs. What they did to contain and limit the Tennessee Titans’ goliath of a running back Derrick Henry in the AFC Championship game was damned impressive.
Yet, no team in the NFL boasted the best passing defense (yards allowed) in the regular season than Robert Saleh’s 49ers defense. The Niners yielded a league-best 2,707 yards. KC
ranked 8th allowing a total of 3,543 yards. San Francisco ranked 17th against the run surrendering 1,802 yards while Kansas City finished 26th allowing 2,051 yards. The air and ground defense of particular importance when it comes to the two teams.
Aerial Onslaught
Kansas City’s passing offense is both brilliant and frightening all at the same time. Mahomes threw for three touchdowns and nearly 300 yards in a masterful performance against Tennessee. With unparalleled speed at the receiver positions and an all-pro tight end to boot, it’s literal pick-your-poison.
Double team Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce will eat you alive. And vice versa. San Francisco’s staunch pass defense is going to be thoroughly tested. More than that, they’ll need to counter Mahomes’ impressive scrambling ability. He broke the pocket for chunk gains to extend drives constantly against the Titans, including a dazzling 27yard touchdown gallop that sent the raucous crowd in Arrowhead into a fervent blood frenzy. The Niners will need every bit of their pass rush (ranked 5th in the regular season with 48 sacks) and Sherman and Co. to be on point covering the plethora of Chiefs weapons.
Slice & Dice
No one — and I mean no one — had a more impressive conference championship weekend than the 49ers’ Raheem Mostert. The journeyman tailback eviscerated the Green Bay Packers defense for 220 yards and four TDs on 29 carries. It was such an impressive solo performance, San Francisco thrived on a 6-for-8, 77 yard and TDless outing from quarterback Jimmy Garropolo. Let that marinate for a few seconds. The rushing attack was so tremendous the QB didn’t need to do much — in a game that decide who goes to the Super Bowl, no less. The Packers defense was so flummoxed, by the time it figured it out, it was too little, too late for the comeback antics of Aaron Rodgers. The Chiefs will need a repeat stout effort against the run defensively in order to quell 49ers head coach and play-caller Kyle Shanahan’s genius.
Chess Match
If Shanahan is indeed the young offensive mastermind, then Chiefs head honcho and play designer Andy Reid is the grey intellect of equal, perhaps better, prowess. Their defensive counterparts, Saleh and Steve Spagnuolo are in for a hell of a time trying to devise ways to stop Reid and Shanahan. Safe to say there’s some sleepless nights for the pair of defensive coordinators.
What Spags and the Chiefs defense did against the run-heavy Titans was eye-opening. KC did so without stacking the box (eight men near the line of scrimmage). What Saleh and the 49ers defense accomplished against Rodgers and the once vibrant Packers offense wasn’t as sexy, but effective nonetheless. But sexy doesn’t always translates into a Super Bowl win. Just ask now-retired Eli Manning when he led his underdog New York Giants to a title wins against the New England Patriots in 2007 and 2011. Those two tilts saw the better defense come out roses. We’ll see if that happens again this goaround.