Nate Marrero, Sports Editor

The odds that this game is as bad as the New England Patriots vs. the Los Angeles Rams is slim to none. With the San Francisco 49ers’ dominant ground game and the Kansas City Chiefs high flying passing attack, points may come in bunches. Two of the game’s top offensive minds will square off with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and the infamous Shanahan run scheme that his dad, Mike Shanahan created with the Denver Broncos and Kansas City’s head coach Andy Reid – who has consistently been a top head coach in the NFL since his second year as the Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach in 2000.

San Francisco has one of the best defenses in football, but they are predictable on that side of the ball. They run a defense that is shared by many teams throughout the NFL. The Los Angeles Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars run the exact same scheme and Kansas City won all three games. Reid is also 18-3 when he has an extra week to prepare, and with additional time to prepare for a scheme that he has already faced can be a recipe for disaster for the 49ers. 

While you wouldn’t be able to tell by the final score, Kansas City got off to slow starts in both games – falling behind by 24 points against the Houston Texans and by 10 points to the Tennessee Titans before storming back to win. The Chiefs will have a much harder time coming from behind against the 49ers because of how well San Francisco runs the ball and their willingness to stick to it with the lead.

At the end of the day, I expect this game to be a barnburner. One play may very well make the difference in this game. If the game does indeed come down to the wire, give me the team with the best quarterback in football. I think the Chiefs find a way to pull out the win and get Andy Reid his first Super Bowl.

Chiefs 35, 49ers 31

André González Rodríguez, Contributor 

San Francisco has faced just about every type of opponent this year – and beat the top NFC teams, the New Orleans Saints in the regular season, the Green Bay Packers in the regular season and NFC championship game, and the Minnesota Vikings in the divisional round – to get to Miami today. All three of the 49ers’ losses, against the Seattle Seahawks, Baltimore Ravens, and Atlanta Falcons, came on the final play of the game.

Seeing the trend of the Chiefs going down early to start the game, I believe if they were to do that against the 49ers, they won’t be able to pull off the win. No matter how big Patrick Mahomes’ heroics may be, San Francisco has one of the top defenses in the league.

The 49ers running game will be too much for the Chiefs like it was for the Packers in the NFC Championship game. They will dictate the tempo and take too much time off the clock. Mahomes’ forte is being able to score quickly and that’ll just lead to the 49ers just getting the ball back and controlling the clock even more.

49ers 28, Chiefs, 24

Alisha Oliver, Contributor

Thinking of Kansas City, it’s easy to acknowledge their passing game and their superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Discreetly, the Chiefs have rushed for over 100 yards in their last four games. I’d expect them to try to and establish the run game early. 

The Chiefs know the strengths of the 49ers are their front four on defense and strong running game. Kansas City needs to slow down San Francisco’s defensive line and one way they can do that is with play-action passes. Chiefs usually run belly runs with a mix of zone runs. Also, they are going to run a huge amount of screens. The 49ers’ have difficulty defending screens and that’s another way to slow down their pass rushers. 

The 49ers typically run the ball out of the I-formation which is a weakness that the Chiefs’ defense has struggled to defend. Jimmy Garoppolo is efficient at hitting his target while still in the pocket.

Kansas City likes to use motion by moving a wide receiver or tight end to the two-receiver side or swing the running back out. San Francisco will likely sit in Cover three this will allow Chiefs to pick up yardage on the play. The 49ers know the strength of the Chiefs is Mahomes being able to keep the play alive. Their defense will challenge Mahomes to throw the ball quicker and force turnovers.

Chiefs 45, 49ers 40 

This story was updated to correct grammar mistakes.