{"id":367054,"date":"2024-02-10T23:36:27","date_gmt":"2024-02-11T00:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=367054"},"modified":"2024-02-11T21:05:32","modified_gmt":"2024-02-11T21:05:32","slug":"star-studded-offences-cancelled-out-for-nfl-decider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=367054","title":{"rendered":"Star-studded offences cancelled out for NFL decider"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kansas City<\/a> can go as far as Patrick Mahomes<\/a> takes them, while San Francisco<\/a> have a star-studded cast that includes Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and the ever-improving quarterback, Brock Purdy.<\/p>\n

However, this year's Super Bowl<\/a> will come down to the other side of the ball and defence will be the deciding factor in who takes home the the Vince Lombardi Trophy.<\/p>\n

Mahomes and the Chiefs are looking to become the NFL<\/a>\u2019s first repeat champion in 19 years, while the 49ers are aiming for a record-tying sixth Super Bowl title, putting them alongside the Patriots and Steelers.<\/p>\n

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Mahomes, Travis Kelce and coach Andy Reid get most of the attention on the Chiefs (14-6), but defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo\u2019s unit deserves plenty of credit for carrying the team during various points of the season when the offence was inconsistent and out of sync, continuing their dominance in the AFC West.<\/p>\n

All-Pros Chris Jones and Trent McDuffie, along with George Karlaftis, L\u2019Jarius Sneed and others, have stepped up to give the Chiefs their best defence of Mahomes\u2019 era.<\/p>\n

But now, they'll need to do it for one more game against a versatile, dynamic offence.<\/p>\n

San Francisco (14-5) also have a formidable defence led by Nick Bosa, All-Pro Fred Warner, Javon Hargrave and Charvarius Ward. They\u2019ve struggled in the postseason, especially making third-down stops, but have done enough to make the decider.<\/p>\n

They have to be better against Mahomes and the Chiefs to have a shot to win.<\/p>\n

WHEN THE 49ERS HAVE THE BALL<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The 49ers had the league\u2019s third-ranked rushing attack behind McCaffrey and fourth-ranked passing offense behind Purdy. The Chiefs gave up the second-fewest points (17.3), were fourth against the pass and 18th against the run.<\/p>\n

McCaffrey, tight end Kittle, left tackle Trent Williams and fullback Kyle Juszczyk were All-Pros. Brandon Aiyuk was a second-team All-Pro. Samuel is a versatile, do-everything player.<\/p>\n

The 49ers have plenty of weapons, and coach Kyle Shanahan is known for finding innovative ways to use them and keep defences off balance. He\u2019s facing a master tactician in Spagnuolo.<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be a chess match.<\/p>\n

Spagnuolo has a penchant for blitzing. Purdy excelled against it.<\/p>\n

The 49ers have to block Jones, who can be a game-wrecker. McDuffie is a shutdown slot cornerback and Sneed allowed only one receiver all season to have more than 50 yards receiving in a game so Purdy has a tough task.<\/p>\n

He led the NFL with a 113.0 passer rating on 4,280 yards, 31 TDs, 11 picks and a 69.4% completion rate. McCaffrey led the NFL with 1,459 yards rushing and had 14 rushing TDs for San Francisco. He also had 564 yards receiving for seven scores.<\/p>\n

Kittle had 65 catches for 1,020 yards and six TDs. Aiyuk led the way with 75 receptions for 1,342 yards and seven scores. Samuel had 1,117 yards from scrimmage.<\/p>\n

A wild card for San Francisco\u2019s offense is Purdy\u2019s surprising mobility. His scrambling was a major factor as he led comeback wins against the Lions and Packers in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs shut down two-time MVP Lamar Jackson, the best running QB in the NFL, so they\u2019ll be ready for Purdy.<\/p>\n

WHEN THE CHIEFS HAVE THE BALL<\/h3>\n

\"Patrick<\/p>\n

The Chiefs had the league\u2019s sixth-ranked passing offence behind Mahomes and 19th-ranked rushing attack. The 49ers were 14th against the pass and third against the run, but they have allowed 13 of 25 third-down conversions in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Mahomes is a brilliant playmaker who finds unique ways to make big plays when it seems nothing is available. The two-time NFL and Super Bowl MVP threw for 4,183 yards with 27 touchdowns, a career-high 14 interceptions and career-low 92.6 passer rating. His receivers dropped 44 passes, the most in the league.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs' offense runs through Mahomes and Kelce. Without a deep threat \u2014 Tyreek Hill was traded to Miami two years ago \u2014 Reid has turned the passing offense into a shorter, carve-up attack.<\/p>\n

Rashee Rice has the ability to turn screens into big plays and veteran Marquez Valdes-Scantling has averaged 21.6 yards per catch in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Kelce had 93 catches for 984 yards and five TDs in the regular season and he has taken his game to another level in the playoffs, with 23 catches for 262 yards and three scores in three games. Rice had 79 receptions for 938 yards and seven TDs in the regular season.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs have to use running back Isiah Pacheco to balance the offense. He ran for 935 yards and seven TDs in the regular season, and he has 254 yards and three scores in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Reid is one of the NFL\u2019s most creative coaches, and he\u2019s willing to add new wrinkles in the biggest games. Kansas City again won\u2019t have All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney and the offensive line has a big challenge protecting Mahomes from Bosa, Hargrave and the rest of San Francisco\u2019s pass rush.<\/p>\n

Warner and Dre Greenlaw can control of the middle of the field and limit some of Kelce\u2019s opportunities, forcing the Chiefs to attack outside.<\/p>\n

Mahomes can always make plays with his legs. He scrambled for 26 first downs in the regular season. Playing on an injured ankle in last year\u2019s Super Bowl, he had a big scramble on Kansas City\u2019s go-ahead drive in a comeback win over Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

If the 49ers bring the heat and turn up the pressure like Tampa Bay did against Mahomes in the Super Bowl three years ago, that could be trouble for the Chiefs.<\/p>\n

COACHING<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kyle Shanahan is 8-3 in the playoffs and 0-2 in Super Bowls, including one as an assistant. His 49ers blew a lead against the Chiefs in this game four years ago and he was offensive coordinator for Atlanta when the Falcons blew a 28-3 lead against Tom Brady and the Patriots in Super Bowl 51.<\/p>\n

Reid is a likely future Hall of Famer. He already has two Super Bowl rings and is the winningest coach in the history of the Chiefs and Eagles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kansas City can go as far as Patrick Mahomes takes them, while San Francisco have a star-studded cast that includes Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, George […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":366506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367054"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=367054"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":367057,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367054\/revisions\/367057"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/366506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=367054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=367054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=367054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}