Danielle Server
Staff Writer
All across the United States people are gearing up for the 54th Super Bowl this Sunday at the Hard Rock stadium in Miami, Florida. As the clock keeps ticking down to one of the most anticipated sporting events of the year, speculations and predictions are pouring in all across popular news and sport websites.
Who will win the Super Bowl this year? This question, much like the NCAA March Madness bracket challenge, creates popular betting pools year after year. The Super Bowl, not only popular for the game itself but for the commercials, can be a large money maker for people across the United States and beyond.
As for who actually wins this year is up for a close debate. Across the several sport websites such as CBS, ESPN and Bleacher report, several writers and experts are divided between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs.
“Personally I think the chiefs will win because they have a stronger offensive force over the 49ers. So if it turns into a purely offensive game then they will simply out score them. Plus the 49ers beat the Packers and I’m still bitter about that,” said Tanner Conley, a writer for Student Media’s Branding Iron.
More students weighed in as the week of the super bowl progressed, giving responses much like Tanner.
“I predict that the 49ers will beat the Chiefs with a score of 38-32. These teams are very comparative offensively which will keep the scoring lower, but the 49ers seem to have a better defense against passing which is a strong point for the Chiefs,” said Kaleigh Douglas, a sophomore Psychology major.
“I predict that the Chiefs will beat the 49ers with a score of 21-14. The Chiefs defense is unstoppable,” said Tim Swanson, a junior Criminal Justice major.
CBS has the majority of their experts leaning towards the Chiefs in an 8 to 2 majority, while ESPN reports their own experts lean the other way towards the 49ers in a 5 to 2 split. These predictions are nothing like the football fans saw last year with the New England Patriots vs. the Las Angeles Rams.
To break it down to simple facts, both teams are well qualified and well matched for the Super bowl. For one, both the 49ers and the Chiefs were top in their divisions. Even though the Chiefs won their last match up together in week three, the 49ers ended their season with the top defense in the NFL with an average 169.2 passing yards allowed per game. This poses a serious problem for the Chiefs who only averaged 99.9 yards throughout the 2019-20 season. The 49ers also average 3.2 per game, which might pose a problem for Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs leading quarterback.
However, Mahomes comes with high credentials after helping the Chiefs come back in their championship match up against the Titans in 35-24 victory. He averaged 283.7 passing yards in the 2019-20 season that, despite the 49ers passing defense, can really make a difference in the score.
