The Spectrum staff are leaning toward Kansas City but expects a close game

Ian Longtin: Sports Editor/Knows Packer fans aren’t real NFL owners

I feel pressure to get this game right. The Super Bowl, like always, will be the biggest sporting event of the year, and as the sports editor, I feel that it be necessary to predict exactly what happens.

I have flip-flopped so many times on who I’m picking, which is a surefire way to get it wrong. I’m the 49ers front seven made the Packers’ and Vikings’ offenses look like they were running straight out of a Pop-Warner playbook the last two weeks.

Meanwhile, Kansas City has NFL golden-boy Patrick Mahomes running an offense that just scored three times before I finished this sentence. Add that to the fact that Andy Reid is so unbelievably overdue for a Super Bowl that it’s understandable to think the football gods have forgotten to give him his one shining moment.

The 49ers’ roster has fewer holes from top to bottom. A well-coached offense that will make you stop the run and then kill you with 15-20 chunk plays over the middle. Add that with a suffocating defense that has discombobulated opposing teams all season long.

Kansas City, on the other hand, is an offensive juggernaut with countless weapons. The Chiefs defense is what makes them vulnerable. Kansas City has been streaky on that side of the ball and I could see them struggling to stop Kyle Shanahan’s run-blocking scheme.

Before the season, my Super Bowl pick was the Chiefs. Do I have proof of this? Technically I do not, but un-technically you should just trust me.

My head says to roll with the Niners, they have the better roster, have looked like a machine in the playoffs and have shown all season long they are among the NFL’s best.

But, my gut is telling me something else. It just feels like it is the Chiefs’ time.

Plus, Spectrum newbie and super sports enthusiast Emily Olsen when asked to point at a logo of who she thinks will win, pointed at the Chiefs logo.

There you have it, folks.

Mahomes wins MVP and Andy Reid gets carried off the field.

Chiefs – 32 49ers – 27

David Hoffman: Staff Writer/Star Wars Aficionado

There’s one prediction I can feel confident about for Super Bowl XIV. This is going to be an exciting matchup.

The Chiefs have their explosive offense, and the 49ers have their dominating defense. Patrick Mahomes, George Kittle, Richard Sherman, Nick Bosa, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill are all players that are fun to watch. All signs point to this being a great (and close) game.

For me, it’s a tough call on who will win. While it is debatable if the Chiefs will rely too heavily on Mahomes, it is unquestionable that he can never be ruled out of a game. Who else could lead their team out of a 24-0 deficit in the divisional round of the playoffs against a good Houston Texans team?

However, I just feel that the 49ers are the stronger overall team. They are well-known for their defense, yet they still were second in the league in points per game.

I think the energy that 49ers defense brings is going to be too much for the Chiefs and Mahomes.

49ers – 31 Chiefs – 24

Philip Arneson: Staff Writer/Your favorite fantasy football expert’s favorite fantasy football expert

So here’s what’s going to happen: the Niners are going to win, 27-20.

As much as I’d love to see Andy Reid finally take home the title, I see this one going the other way. Kyle Shanahan is going to prove to the world that you can win without relying on the pass.

Patrick Mahomes, who normally keeps his composure under pressure, is going to struggle against San Francisco’s well-crafted blitz packages and coverages. Mahomes will still crawl his way to 300 passing yards but it will not be enough.

The 49ers are going to out-sack the Chiefs, five to two. There will be a total of three turnovers throughout the game, at least one of them will be an interception. Raheem Mostert is going to take home the Super Bowl MVP with 100+ scrimmage yards and two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving.

Joe Buck will, of course, say that he’s here with Hall of Famer Troy Aikman before the game even starts. His commentary will force me to vomit violently before halftime, but you might make it further than that.

And one last thing: I predicted that the Gatorade would be blue last year. This year it will be red, I can feel it.

49ers – 27 Chiefs – 20

Abby Petersen: Staff Writer/Is not related to Adrian

I have not been this excited about a Super Bowl in a few years. After last year’s absolute snoozer of a game, we deserve an entertaining matchup, and I think that is exactly what we’ll get.

The spread is extraordinarily close with the Chiefs favored by just a single point. I love a good nail-biter, and when you pit two teams like this together, that’s what you are going to get. There are so many matchups in this game that are going to be interesting.

On the one hand, Patrick Mahomes is having a phenomenal postseason and is equipped with incredible speed offensively with guys like Tyreek Hill. On the other hand, the 49ers have the best tight end in football in George Kittle, but the Chiefs have the second-best with Travis Kelce. There are tons of these matchups that I could go on about, but the bottom line is that anything can happen in this game.

The 49ers had an interesting NFC championship game where Jimmy Garoppolo threw just eight passes and the team had 42 rushing attempts. This, according to Kyle Shanahan this was done because “it was working,” and I love that mentality. This ties into my next point, these are two of the best play call coaches in the NFL, and I think that’s what will make this game interesting.

Ultimately, I think Kansas City will take home the win this time around. Patrick Mahomes has shown us that he is great, especially under pressure. I think with the speed and skill the Chiefs have offensively, the 49ers will have a very tough time finding an answer to that. I hope it’ll be a standing-up-and-screaming-at-your-TV kind of game, though.

Chiefs – 31 49ers – 27

John Swanson: Photo Editor/Has never done anything wrong

This is an easy pick. Try and keep up.

The Chiefs beat the Jaguars in the first game of the regular season. Then, the Jaguars beat the Bengals.

However, the 49ers beat the Bengals handily in their second regular-season game. It does not end there.

The Rams were among the teams that the 49ers beat, but the Rams beat the Bengals as well. Likewise, Goff threw his way to a victory against the Falcons.

If we look at the Falcons, they actually beat the 49ers. Finally, the Rams were beaten by the 49ers twice.

So the 49ers beat the Rams, the Rams beat Falcons and the Falcons beat the 49ers. Thus, 49ers are plenty capable of destroying their own team, so it can be assumed that they will repeat this pattern in the Super Bowl.

Also, the Chiefs will miss an extra point after one of their four touchdowns.

Chiefs – 30 49ers – 27

Mason Urban: Staff Writer/Not associated with Urban outfitters

Super Bowl 54 features the best defense in the league going up against the best offense in the league. Both the Chiefs and 49ers have been dominant in completely different ways to make it to the Super Bowl.

The key to the game is will the 49ers pass rush. Not only being able to get pressure on Mahomes but actually sack him. San Fransisco has racked up a whopping nine sacks in just two games this postseason. San Francisco cannot give Mahomes time to improvise with the kind of weapons that he has at his disposal. If they do, Mahomes will pick them apart.

The Chiefs defense has been sneakily decent in the postseason and that will be huge when going up against the Niners run-first offense. Kansas City did a great job of bottling up Derrick Henry, holding him to just 69 rushing yards on 19 carries. 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has attempted just 27 passes this postseason. Naturally, this means the 49ers have run the ball a lot in the last two games. Like, a lot a lot. Like 89 rushing attempts over that span a lot.

If the Chiefs can force Garoppolo to throw, they will be successful.

Over the last 15 seasons, teams with more than 55 sacks entering the Super Bowl are 6-0. That streak ends on Sunday. History tells us that the 49ers will win this game, but it is so hard to doubt the best player in football, Patrick Mahomes.

Mahomes has shown absolutely no reason during his short career for us to doubt him.

Chiefs – 38 49ers – 23

Andrew Haugland: Frosh ready to make his mark

The Super Bowl is a beautiful thing. All the emotions, the excitement, the camaraderie…and the commercials.  It is the biggest game of the year, 100 million people are expected to watch the game. 

Who is gonna win? I don’t know. The 49ers had a good season. They went 13-3, won the tough NFC West and manhandled their way through the playoffs.

But I mean so did the Chiefs. Kansas City went 12-4, won the AFC West, beat the Texans and beat the breakout Titans.

I believe the Chiefs are going to be the Super Bowl 54 champions.  I mean Pat Mahomes 4,031 passing yards with 26 TD’s, tough to pick against him.  The Chiefs receivers are out of this world. Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce combine for over two thousand yards and 13 touchdowns. 

I also like the Chiefs backfield, with Damien Williams and LeSean McCoy both getting consistent touches. The two combined for a little under a thousand rushing yards with nine touchdowns between the two of them to go along with 557 yards after contact.

But I believe it will be a very competitive game. The 49ers have a lot of weapons too. I like their defense in this game with Richard Sherman having an awesome year and Arik Armstead with ten sacks and Nick Bosa with nine. 

The Chiefs have to play their game, and the Niners have to neutralize the dynamic Chiefs offense. But ultimately it’s the Chiefs year to take the Lombardi Trophy home.

Chiefs – 35 49ers – 28