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On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will meet for Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
These are two of the NFL's best teams. The 49ers were the No. 1 seed in the NFC, while the Chiefs were the No. 3 seed in a tight AFC. How do these teams match up on the football field, though?
Let's compare and contrast the offense, defense, and special teams for the two teams in Super Bowl LVIII.
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Offense
Let's see how the offenses for the Chiefs and 49ers compare.
Passing
The passing attacks for these two teams have the most obvious difference, which is the talent level at quarterback. The Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes, a two-time Super Bowl MVP who is already considered one of the best QBs of all time. The 49ers have a second-year quarterback who was the last overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Most postseason touchdowns by QB-receiver duo in NFL history:
- Patrick Mahomes & Travis Kelce (16)
- Tom Brady & Rob Gronkowski (15)
- Joe Montana & Jerry Rice (12) pic.twitter.com/ed2cEvXzWf— NFL (@NFL) January 22, 2024
But going beyond the narrative and just looking at their 2023 numbers, how do these passing games compare?
Pretty favorably, actually. Both teams were in the top 10 in the regular season in passing yards, with the 49ers ranking fourth with 4,384 yards and the Chiefs sixth with 4,188 yards.
The 49ers were a more efficient passing offense, as they led the NFL in touchdown percentage, throwing one on 6.7% of the team's 491 pass attempts. The Chiefs threw touchdowns on 4.4% of their 635 attempts.
The volume is also a big difference. The 49ers don't pass as much but they push the ball deeper when they do, which is why they were able to rank so highly in yards and touchdown rate despite throwing the fewest passes in the NFL. The Chiefs, meanwhile, threw the second-most passes in the league.
Essentially, both passing offenses are very good, but the 49ers definitely spend less time throwing the ball. They work to establish the run and then try to work the ball deep. The team was 11th in the NFL in intended air yards per attempt this season, while the Chiefs were second-to-last. KC focuses more on the short passing game over the run game.
Rushing
The San Francisco 49ers ran the ball 499 times, the eighth-most times in the NFL, while the Kansas City Chiefs ran the ball 417 times, which ranked 25th in the NFL.
The reason for the disparity there is pretty simple. The Niners' best player is running back Christian McCaffrey. The Chiefs' best player is quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Of course, the 49ers ran the ball more often.
#Chiefs Drue Tranquill on Christian McCaffrey: “He’s probably the best back in the league right now” pic.twitter.com/WuRDQiH3bc
— Aaron Ladd (@aaronladdtv) February 6, 2024
Things look a little closer if we look at things on a per-play basis. The 49ers were fourth in the NFL in rushing yards per attempt while the Chiefs were 13th. San Francisco is the better rushing team, but Kansas City's no slouch there. Isiah Pacheco is a strong runner who can break through tackles and make big plays.
The Chiefs also do a good job creating opportunities in the run game. Defenses have to focus on stopping the pass, which opens up space for the running backs. KC is fourth in yards before contact per attempt, one spot ahead of the 49ers.
Defense
Pass Defense
The Chiefs allowed the fourth-fewest passing yards per game while the 49ers allowed the 14th-fewest per game, so KC looks to have the advantage there on paper.
However, the 49ers tied for the league lead in interceptions this season, picking off 22 passes. The Chiefs picked off just eight passes, tied for the third-fewest in the NFL. San Fran might allow more yards, but they've done a much better job forcing turnovers in the pass game.
A list of tight ends held below 60 receiving yards by the Kansas City Chiefs defense this season:
Dalton Kincaid (twice)
Sam LaPorta
Evan Engram
TJ Hockenson
Cole Kmet
Mark Andrews/Isaiah Likely combinedHunter Henry (7-66-1 in Week 15) was the only TE with 14+ PPR points vs KC
— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) February 6, 2024
When it comes to getting to the quarterback, the 49ers had 48 sacks this season and got pressure on 21.0% of their opponent's dropbacks. The Chiefs had 57 sacks, the second-most in the NFL, and got pressure on 27.8% of opponent dropbacks.
Run Defense
One potential difference in this game comes with the run defenses. The 49ers are strong against the run, allowing the third-fewest rushing yards this season and the seventh-fewest first downs on the ground. The team's strong front seven helps neutralize opposing rushing attacks.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, have struggled there. They allow the eighth-most yards per attempt at 4.5. Pro Football Reference puts them as fifth-worst in the "expected points contributed by rushing defense" stat at -26.09.
The run defense has a chance to be one of the biggest game-changing matchups when the 49ers are on offense and the Chiefs are on defense.
Special Teams
Punt Returns
The 49ers averaged 8.0 yards per punt return, the ninth-lowest mark in the NFL. The Chiefs averaged 9.3 yards per punt return, the 16th-best mark in the NFL. Punt returns aren't really a major strength of either side.
Kick Returns
The Chiefs averaged 20.1 yards per kickoff return, the fifth-worst mark in the NFL. The 49ers were better, averaging 21.9 per return, ranking 13th-worst in the league. Like with the punt returns, the kick return game doesn't look like a positive for either team.
Punting
Field position is huge, so having a good punting game is big. The 49ers were 12th in yards per punt while the Chiefs were 16th. The punting game should be pretty close between both of these teams.
Kicking
Jake Moody remains confident despite his misses. https://t.co/MCxYqvjmJE
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) February 6, 2024
The Chiefs were 33-of-35 on field goal attempts this season, good for a 94.3% rate, which ranked behind only the Titans and Cowboys. As for the 49ers, the team made its field goals at an 84.0% clip, which ranked 19th in the NFL. If we get a close game here that comes down to the kickers needing to make field goals, the Chiefs have a pretty big advantage.
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