San Francisco 49ers: 5 X-factors to beating Chiefs in Super Bowl 54
5. Take Kansas City offense out of things early
In a game that will likely be a heavy offensive contest and one that will come down to which defense will be able to hold the opposition in check for the most part on the offensive side of the ball, the first X-factor for the San Francisco 49ers while going up against the Kansas City Chiefs is to try and take the Chiefs offense out of the game early.
Not only would taking the Kansas City offense out of the game early shift momentum in favor of San Francisco, but it could present the 49ers with the opportunity to build a lead early on in the Super Bowl and then rely on their dominant defense to shut down the Chiefs offense.
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Throughout the course of the regular season, San Francisco has held a solid defensive group that has stepped up when things have mattered most. But the 49ers have also shown the ability to allow opposing offenses to thrive on their side of the line of scrimmage on occasion and have been forced to play catch up to those opponents to some extent.
In the 16-game regular-season schedule, San Francisco allowed opposing offenses to average 281.8 yards per game, which ranked second-best in the NFL behind only the New England Patriots. The 49ers allowed their opposition to score 19.4 points per game on average, which was eighth-best in the league.
In the two postseason games this year, San Francisco has allowed opposing offenses to average 252.2 total yards per game, averaging just 4.9 yards per play and giving up an average of just 14 first downs during that span.
The Chiefs, however, have averaged 419.0 yards in total offense in two playoff games so far this postseason, including tallying 6.9 yards per game and averaging 28 first downs per contest. That comes after Kansas City put an even more impressive offensive showing on throughout the course of the regular season.
The start to the Super Bowl on Sunday evening will be a key thing to keep an eye on, and just one of the 49ers’ x-factors that will take place in the big game will be trying to take the Chiefs out of things early on to be able to jump out to a lead in Miami.