There were plenty of exciting matchups that would have been possible from this postseason. Green Bay-Kansas City, Baltimore-San Francisco, or a Seattle-New England rematch. But I think we got a great one, with two smart offensive coaching staffs, some of the more exciting playmakers in the game, and two talented defenses. At the end of the day, I'm expecting a high-scoring classic.
In analyzing this matchup, I spent almost no time on the last meeting. a 38-27 Kansas City win in Week 3 of the 2018 season. The game wasn't even that close (Kansas City led 35-10 at the half). San Francisco's defense was much worse in 2018: no Nick Bosa, no Dee Ford. Its main wideouts and running backs that day were Marquise Goodwin, Pierre Garcon, Alfred Morris and Matt Breida. Kansas City's featured runner was Kareem Hunt. Kansas City's defense is also better now.
But it can at least be said that both offenses had plenty of success moving the ball in that one, with both quarterbacks and star tight ends having very good games. Now San Francisco's offense is better, and Kansas City's is still great. Both defenses are improved, but I'm not comfortable saying any defense can really shut down Patrick Mahomes and company, and I don't know that any defense can stop San Francisco's ground game, either.
I've settled on a high-scoring affair that will probably come down to the final possessions. Kansas City may have to do it with fewer opportunities, with San Francisco likely to control the clock with its ground game, but it can score in a hurry, and hurt you in a lot of different ways. But ultimately, it looks like San Francisco's year to me. I went with San Franciso 30, Kansas City 27. And here are the final rankings.
| SUPER BOWL LIV RANKINGS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Tm | Player | Pass | Rec | Run | Tot | TD | Std | PPR |
| QB | KC | Patrick Mahomes | 287 | 0 | 20 | 297 | 2.08 | 24.2 | 24.2 |
| RB | SF | Raheem Mostert | 0 | 17 | 99 | 115 | 1.23 | 18.9 | 21.0 |
| WR | KC | Tyreek Hill | 0 | 84 | 3 | 87 | .65 | 12.6 | 18.1 |
| QB | SF | Jimmy Garoppolo | 208 | 0 | 3 | 211 | 1.44 | 16.7 | 16.7 |
| TE | KC | Travis Kelce | 0 | 70 | 0 | 70 | .48 | 9.9 | 15.1 |
| RB | KC | Damien Williams | 0 | 20 | 60 | 81 | .65 | 11.9 | 14.6 |
| WR | SF | Deebo Samuel | 0 | 53 | 16 | 68 | .47 | 9.7 | 14.5 |
| TE | SF | George Kittle | 0 | 55 | 0 | 55 | .39 | 7.8 | 12.6 |
| WR | KC | Sammy Watkins | 0 | 52 | 0 | 52 | .34 | 7.2 | 10.9 |
| WR | SF | Emmanuel Sanders | 0 | 36 | 1 | 37 | .22 | 5.0 | 8.0 |
| PK | SF | Robbie Gould | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .00 | 7.8 | 7.8 |
| PK | KC | Harrison Butker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .00 | 7.5 | 7.5 |
| WR | SF | Kendrick Bourne | 0 | 25 | 0 | 25 | .25 | 4.0 | 5.8 |
| WR | KC | Mecole Hardman | 0 | 23 | 2 | 25 | .26 | 4.0 | 5.4 |
| D/ST | SF | San Francisco | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .17 | 6.0 | 4.5 |
| RB | SF | Tevin Coleman | 0 | 6 | 17 | 24 | .18 | 3.5 | 4.3 |
| D/ST | KC | Kansas City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .19 | 7.1 | 4.1 |
| RB | KC | LeSean McCoy | 0 | 6 | 14 | 19 | .15 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| WR | KC | Demarcus Robinson | 0 | 17 | 0 | 17 | .08 | 2.2 | 3.5 |
| RB | SF | Matt Breida | 0 | 4 | 7 | 11 | .08 | 1.6 | 2.2 |
| RB | SF | Kyle Juszczyk | 0 | 4 | 1 | 6 | .07 | 1.0 | 1.4 |
| TE | KC | Blake Bell | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | .04 | 0.8 | 1.4 |
| TE | KC | Deon Yelder | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | .04 | 0.8 | 1.4 |
| RB | KC | Anthony Sherman | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | .09 | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| WR | SF | Richie James | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | .06 | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| WR | KC | Byron Pringle | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .02 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| TE | SF | Ross Dwelley | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .01 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
| WR | SF | Dante Pettis | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .01 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
| TE | SF | Levine Toilolo | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .01 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| QB | KC | Matt Moore | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .00 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| RB | KC | Darwin Thompson | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .01 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| QB | SF | Nick Mullens | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .00 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
--Andy Richardson