So, who will hoist the Vince Lombardi aloft? Well, these two teams are set to provide a real classic headline clash: the explosive Kansas offense versus the unrelenting San Francisco defense. The Chiefs had 42 passing plays in the regular season that were greater than 25 yards (2.6 per game), and that includes the games where Matt Moore was starting at quarterback in place of the banged-up Patrick Mahomes. In fact, the 2018 MVP Mahomes had 13 deep touchdowns in the regular season - the most in the NFL. It is the perfect matchup in this regard, however; San Francisco allowed the fewest completions for more than 20 yards in the NFL this season with just 10 (0.63 per game), according to Pro Football Focus. In 2019, the 49ers simply owned the best pass defense (an NFL best 169.2 YPG, as well as league-leading stats in yards-per-attempt and yards-per-carry), which obviously matches up positively against one of the best passers of a ball ever in Mahomes. On top of this, San Francisco also allowed the fewest receiving yards to a TE on the year, which is obviously one of the Chiefs’ strengths as they possess Travis Kelce - who scored three touchdowns in the win over the Texans in the Divisional Round and has a strong claim to being the best tight end in the game alongside the 49ers’ own George Kittle. Whilst evidently strong at nullifying the passing attack, the ‘Niners also possess arguably - if not obviously - the best defensive line in football. The 49ers’ secondary was perhaps able to be successful due to the impressive play of this line, which includes Arik Armstead (10.0 sacks), rookie Nick Bosa (9.0 sacks), DeForest Buckner (7.5 sacks) and former-Chief Dee Ford (6.5 sacks). Despite Ford ranking lowest in sacks amongst his colleagues (he was injured for parts of the season), he will be key to San Francisco success on Sunday. The team pressured the opposing quarterback on 33.5% of all snaps when he was on the field.

In the 2019 postseason, the 49ers’ offense have put up 331.0 total YPG but average a playoff-low of 95.5 passing yards-per-game, with just 27 total attempts. The question therefore remains: can Jimmy Garoppolo win the game if he is forced to? The evidence suggests that he can. When he throws for over 250 yards, the 49ers are 7-0 in 2019. This is largely due to their explosive wide receiver corps of Emmanuel Sanders and Deebo Samuel. It is positive reading for the 49ers in this regard as, in the regular season, Garoppolo led the NFL with the highest percentage of his total passing yards coming from yards-after-catch (YAC), and the Chiefs defense is ranked 27th in YAC allowed. It’s not positive reading for the Chiefs, but perhaps they can take solace in knowing that their defensive unit, which experienced a remarkable upturn in form throughout the year, allowed the fewest yards to wide receivers in the league in 2019. If it isn’t obvious already, the key will be in halting the run and putting Jimmy G under pressure when he passes - Garoppolo had a regular season passer rating of 102.0, but this drops to 68.7 when pressure is applied. This is where Frank Clark comes in. The Chiefs’ chief disruptor has six sacks in his last four games.