The NFL season has just one game left. It feels hard to fathom, but the campaign is always more of a sprint than a marathon. This has been an entertaining yet ugly (more on that after the game) installment of the drama America can’t get enough of, now we just have to hope the finale lives up to the hype. If you thought this Super Bowl wouldn’t be broken down from a pop-culture standpoint, you were sorely mistaken. The clip above from the 1996 cult classic, Swingers starring Vince Vaughn and John Favreau, features a sequence where Trent (Vaughn) and Mikey (Favreau) go to Vegas, which serves as the inspiration for this piece. It’s a favorite of mine for both its laughs and genuine emotional moments, I really can’t recommend it enough. Ideally this game is as good as Swingers and not a more ill-fated Vaughn/Favreau collaboration like Four Christmases, but I guess that depends on who you bet on and who you’re rooting for. With all that said let’s take a look back at how the 49ers and Chiefs got here before we talk about the matchup.

How They Got Here

The team seemingly nobody was rooting for went out and did it again. The Chiefs went into Baltimore and knocked off the top seeded Ravens 17-10 behind a strong defensive performance. With the win, Kansas City reaches their fourth Super Bowl in five years, and this run has been the most unlikely of them all. Their struggles down the stretch on offense were well documented but they have not allowed it to handcuff them in the playoffs. The Chiefs transformation from a fast-track run and gun team to a physical grind it out group is now complete, and they deserve immense credit for that.

Patrick Mahomes has had yet another sublime postseason and Travis Kelce has come to life in these critical games. Their balanced attack has stemmed from a run game that is spearheaded by the surprisingly hard running Isiah Pacheco, and Rashee Rice has emerged at receiver. Meanwhile on defense they’re anchored by the dominant Chris Jones and a line backing core led by Drue Tranquill. That front seven is backed up by a strong secondary led by L’Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie. They’ve had a terrific playoff shutting down some talented offenses, and they’ll have to do it again here to be a “big winner” in Sin City like Mikey.

As for their AFC Title game opponents, the Ravens should frankly be embarrassed of their loss. It really felt like Lamar Jackson and company had turned a corner this year, but old habits die hard. As brilliant as Jackson was in the regular season, he has undone all that work by having another miserable postseason. He followed up a “decent” game against Houston with an absolute dud at home against KC.

He wasn’t alone as Zay Flowers and his untimely taunting penalty was only outdone by his ridiculous fumble that killed his team’s chances at a rally. Even the Ravens coaches had an off night as they went away from the run far too quickly. While they’re young and talented, this may have been Baltimore’s best chance to knock off KC. But not even they could save us from Brittany Mahomes and the Swifties going to Vegas.

Across the way in the NFC, the 49ers are heading to their second Super Bowl in four years following a 34-31 win over the Lions. San Francisco has reached this game without playing their “A Game” to this point, as they had to rally in both playoff rounds, they played. While you could knock them for some ugly play, you have to credit them in the same breath for battling back. To borrow a term from the great Mike Valenti, this team is a “monolith,” and they can flex that muscle at any time.

While he remains a lightning rod for debate, what’s not in question is Brock Purdy’s ability to lead this Niners team. “Mr. Irrelevant” is now on his way to a Super Bowl as the trigger man for an offense that was absolutely humming when it mattered most last round. He has done it with his arm and with his legs and will have his full complement of weapons in the big game. Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk have done their usual handiwork while Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle have backed them up. The o-line has been strong as well and it gives this team a platform from which they can grind out a game.

Meanwhile on defense, it’s been the linebacker show. Fred Warner has been his typically brilliant self, but Dre Greenlaw continues to be a wonderful sidekick. The two have seemingly been involved in every critical play and lead this defense as well as any tandem we’ve seen in a long time. The front four law firm of Bosa, Hargrave, Kinlaw and Young has done their part as well getting after quarterbacks when they needed it. When all else fails their secondary has plenty of talent, but can be a bit vulnerable at times, as Jarred Goff and Jordan Love picked them apart. That may be the “matchup within the matchup” as the stoppable force of the Chiefs receivers meets the moveable object of the Niners secondary.

Where there is a winner there is a loser, and boy the Lions were depressing losers at that. Detroit hit the half in the Bay up 24-7, two quarters from a Super Bowl appearance, the first in team history. And then it all came crashing down. The run game went away, big plays weren’t executed, and a wicked bounce went against them. A lot has been made of Dan Campbell’s decisions to go for it constantly, but the plays were there, they just weren’t made. If anything, perhaps he should have recognized where momentum was and try to stop the bleeding with a field goal, but different strokes for different folks. We said all along that the Lions defense was their Achilles heel and it proved to be the case in the second half against SF. Aiden Hutchinson was never heard from in the game and they couldn’t contain Purdy or the pass game. Dan “Gamble” and the boys were so money, they just didn’t know it.

The Matchup

As for the game itself, aka the rematch no one wanted, the Chiefs and Niners have quite a shared history. It began with the legendary Joe Montana leaving the Bay Area and taking over under center in KC. That past culminated in 2020 when they met in the Super Bowl in Miami, a game that became an instant classic after a Chiefs rally to win it all. The Niners have lived with that loss for the last four years and now look to avenge it. Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch have only added to what was a promising group back then, seemingly with the purpose to beat a team like the Chiefs. It’s truly now or never for them this time out as their roster will likely never be better, nor will the Chiefs unit be this flawed again.

This game is a classic case of a great team against an all-time great quarterback. All too often this ends in the all-time great QB beating the great team with their sheer individual brilliance. To avoid that the Niners need their offense to be in rhythm from the get-go. While I don’t think it will be as high scoring, I think a good comparable for this game is the 2018 matchup between the Eagles and the Patriots. Tom Brady played perhaps his best game of his career that night, but the Eagles matched him play for play on offense, and finally made one big defensive play when it counted. The Niners in my opinion will need to do the same. They cannot afford another game of stops and starts like they had against the Packers and Lions.

We can talk about McCaffrey and Kittle and Samuel and Aiyuk and the rest of this roster all we want; in the end this game will rest on Brock Purdy and Kyle Shanahan. Purdy needs to play this game like he did in the second half against the Lions and his coach can il-afford a repeat of his past mistakes in big games. No turnovers, no mismanaged clock and game situations, hell even double down on eleven…you always double down on eleven. It may be the only thing that beats Mahomes.

The Prediction

Chiefs 24 Niners 28

I know betting against Mahomes is pretty much foolish at this point, but I’ve picked against KC each of the last two weeks, why not one more time. I’ll go down with the ship if I’m wrong, but I think the 49ers get revenge. The winner of this one will define their legacy for years to come…and the loser will “eat pancakes in the age of enlightenment.”

No matter what, enjoy this game everyone. Ignore Taylor Swift, the Mahomes family, Tony Romo, and whatever else bothers you. Just enjoy the game…it’s the last one we’ll get until next September. You can find me on Twitter @YNWA9623 and subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Also, check out our new Instagram feed @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. We’ll be back with more soon!