49ers vs. Chiefs

This should be a great game between two completely different teams. The Chiefs are an offensive team built around the passing game while the 49ers are a defensive team with an offense fueled by the run. The Chiefs offense should be able to do better against the 49ers than most other teams have this season because they match up very well with them. The biggest weakness of the 49ers' secondary is their lack of speed, and the Chiefs have the fastest receiving core in the NFL, so expect them to get many splash plays in this game. With all of those big plays the 49ers will be forced to back up, which will open up some big running lanes for the Chiefs, as the 49ers' 17th ranked run defense definitely isn't good enough to stop the run with the entire secondary backed up. The Chiefs will struggle at times on offense, however, as the 49ers have an incredible pass rush and Mahomes will be under duress at times. Expect the Chiefs to score quite a few points but also have a turnover or two because of this. On the other side of the ball, the 49ers could have a hard time moving the ball, as the Chiefs defense proved against the Titans that it is fully capable of handling teams with elite run games. That might have been a fluke, however, in which case the 49ers will be able to run the ball well which sets up the play action and would make their offense very hard for the Chiefs defense to stop. The 49ers' receiving core isn't necessarily good enough to torch the Chiefs' secondary, but their receivers should be relatively productive. In addition, George Kittle should be able to have a big game because there is really nobody on the Chiefs defense that is capable of covering him one-on-one. The Chiefs will have a hard time double teaming him because their main focus will be stopping the run, so Kittle will get open very often. The effectiveness of the 49ers offense will be determined by how well Kittle plays, because if he can beat his one-on-one coverage it will be very hard for the Chiefs to defend him and stop the run. This should be a relatively high scoring game that comes down to the wire. On paper these two teams seem to be pretty equal, so the outcome of the game will really come down to who is ready to step up in the big moment. Patrick Mahomes seems more ready to do that than Jimmy Garoppolo, and the Chiefs as a whole have a lot more experience than the 49ers playing deep into the playoffs so they should be more capable of handling the pressure. Because of this, expect the Chiefs to get their first Super Bowl win in 50 years.

Expert Prediction: Chiefs 27, 49ers 24

Analytics-Based Prediction: Chiefs 35, 49ers 24