If you’re one of the millions of sports betting enthusiasts who puts down money on the outcome of the Super Bowl each year, then you already know that the San Francisco 49ers are a slight underdog against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV. The 49ers beat the Green Bay Packers, 37-20, in the NFC Championship thanks to a combination of an unstoppable running game and a relentless pass rush. Now they advance to take on a Kansas City Chiefs team that came back from a 24-point deficit against Houston and a 10-point deficit against Tennessee to make it into the Super Bowl. We have the Super Bowl LIV odds for each team as well as your top seven reasons to go with the San Francisco 49ers to make it six world titles.
7 Reasons Why San Francisco 49ers Will Win Super Bowl LIV
Odds to Win Super Bowl LIV
Kansas City has started slowly each playoff game
The Chiefs found themselves down 24-0 to the Houston Texans in their divisional playoff game before they got started. Yes, they scored touchdowns on five straight drives and ended up hanging 51 points on the Texans, but the opening sequences of failures — a blocked punt for a touchdown, a muffed punt that gave Houston a short field, a myriad of early penalties — all but the Chiefs in a deep hole. They also found themselves down 10-0 and 17-7 to the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship before they got things rolling. That won’t work against the San Francisco 49ers.
Jimmy Garoppolo didn’t even have to break a sweat in the NFC Championship
The 49ers’ quarterback went six for eight for 77 yards, with no touchdowns and no interceptions. No, this game wasn’t played under the rules of the original NFL, and with the original shape of the ball, which was slightly rounder and harder to pass accurately. It had been a long time since a quarterback led a team to a playoff win while attempting fewer than ten passes. Specifically, it’s been twenty years. Who did it? Jacksonville’s Mark Brunell, who went 5 for 9 for 105 yards with two scores in a 62-7 shellacking of the Miami Dolphins, in Dan Marion’s last game. Brunell came out in the second quarter with the Jaguars up 38-0, while Garoppolo played the whole game. San Francisco’s offense will be even more potent with a passing game up and running.
The 49ers can run all day on Kansas City
The Chiefs aren’t known for stopping the run — but they did limit Derrick Henry, who was strong in the early going but became less of a factor after the Chiefs took the lead and the Titans elected to throw more in their offensive game. Now comes Raheem Mostert and the San Francisco offense. While Henry had been battering opponents by running for almost 200 yards a game, Mostert went even further, rumbling for 220 yards in the NFC Championship. Kyle Shanahan went with a series of misdirection running plays, and Green Bay couldn’t stop them.
Andy Reid will mismanage the clock
He did it in Super Bowl XXXIX, as he could have let his team have enough time to score at the end of both halves. However, his Philadelphia Eagles could only watch as the clock went from 43 seconds down to 17 late in the second quarter after a completion to Todd Pinkston. Then the Eagles ran for 22 yards and the clock expired. Near the end of the second half, the Eagles needed two scores in a hurry, but they took their time getting one, and mishandling time outs cost them as they ran out of time on their last drive. He also blundered with clock management against New England in the divisional round in 2016. Will he do it again?
San Francisco has a terrific pass rush
And they don’t have to blitz to do it. Few teams disrupt the opposing passer with a four-man rush as effectively as the 49ers, as we saw against the Green Bay Packers. Aaron Rodgers spent a lot of the game running for his life. Dee Ford will be back to join the defensive line, adding depth to a unit that already has Nick Bosa, Solomon Thomas, Arik Armistead and DeForest Buckner. Having some depth means that the 49ers can be even more aggressive.
Don’t forget that secondary
Richard Sherman leads this unit by virtue of experience (two Super Bowls, including a rout of the Denver Broncos) and by performance (he had a crucial late interception in the NFC Championship. Expect to see him paired up against Tyreek Hill or Sammy Watkins all night long. It might take just one turnover to give San Francisco the momentum they need.
Oh yes, the offensive line is solid too
For the 2019 regular season, San Francisco’s offensive line ranked #14 out of 32. However, they got left tackle Joe Staley back for the playoffs, and he permitted just seven pressures in 240 snaps requiring pass blocking in the regular season. You saw the size of the holes this line opened for Raheem Mostert in the NFC Championship — so the Chiefs will have their work cut out for them.
