The 49ers had the NFL’s stingiest pass defense this season.
And there might not be a more explosive passing team in the league than the Chiefs.
The 49ers’ 37-20 win in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the Packers set up a Super Bowl matchup of those strengths after the Chiefs beat the Titans 35-24 in the AFC Championship Game earlier Sunday.
It marks the Chiefs’ first Super Bowl appearance in 50 years, ending the third-longest drought after the Lions (54) and Jets (51). The Chiefs beat Minnesota 23-7 in Super Bowl IV; they had appeared in just two AFC title games since — losing after the 1993 season to the Bills and last year in overtime to the Patriots.
“Andy Reid is as good of a coach as there is in this league,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said of his K.C. counterpart. “I think he’s a for-sure Hall of Famer. I know how good Andy is. I know how good their quarterback is. I know how good their team is.”
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the reigning MVP, did not replicate his 2018 numbers of 5,000-plus passing yards and 50 touchdowns this season and missed two games with a knee injury. He still threw for 4,031 yards with 26 touchdowns, five interceptions and a passer rating of 105.3 for a Kansas City team that finished 12-4 to earn the AFC’s No. 2 seed.
