Super Bowl LVIII Preview - San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs

BROCK PURDY ELEVATES THE 49ERS OFFENSE

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has brought a new element to Kyle Shanahan’s offense. More so than any of his predecessors, Purdy can fluidly move in and out of the tackle box, throwing more touchdowns from outside the tackle box (11) than any other quarterback during the regular season. He has already passed for nearly twice as many yards off of scrambles (485) in his year-and-a-half as the starter than Jimmy Garoppolo did during his 49ers tenure (250).

Purdy has also picked up five more first downs on the ground as a scrambler (14) than Garoppolo did in his five seasons (9). This has resulted in Shanahan trusting the passing game more than ever, as the 49ers had their highest pass rate over expected on early downs in 2023 over their last seven seasons.

TRENT WILLIAMS SETS THE BLINDSIDE

49ers left tackle Trent Williams continued to be a stalwart protecting the blindside of his quarterback. He has allowed the 5th-lowest pressure rate (7.3%) among the 36 left tackles with over 300 pass blocking snaps this season (including playoffs). Williams is also still a mauler in the run game. The 49ers have run to the left side of the formation on 59.5% of carries with Williams on the field, averaging 5.5 yards per carry on those runs.

L’JARIUS SNEED AS A SHUTDOWN CORNER

Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed shadowed the opponent’s no. 1 receiver in 7 games this season, most in the NFL. Sneed excelled when targeted downfield, allowing the lowest completion percentage among all defenders on targets of 10+ air yards (24.4%, min. 25 targets). After not allowing a touchdown in coverage during the regular season (on 90 targets), Sneed allowed his only touchdown of the season as the nearest defender against Bills receiver Khalil Shakir in the Divisional Round.