Super Bowl 2024: San Francisco 49ers v Kansas City Chiefs – live updates
Preamble
Hello all, welcome to the conclusion of the NFL season. If this feels like a familiar matchup, it’s because we were here before! It was over four years ago as the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 back in 2020. I remember it like it was yesterday but only because I also remember yesterday very poorly!
This 49ers were probably the most complete team in football all season long. While the Chiefs have the edge at quarterback, Brock Purdy has a better set of offensive weapons. Even when they fell behind early to the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship Game, they were able to put together a perfect second half to mount an impressive comeback. They can’t afford to fall behind that early to the Chiefs, but one suspects that they know it.
However, the Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes is the most important player in the league for a reason and he’s proved it in what may well be his most impressive season to date. The Chiefs have had a depleted receiver core meaning that he’s had to do more heavy lifting than in seasons past. It’s a load he’s proven more than capable of lifting. Plus, he still has Travis Kelce at tight end who must be feeling pretty invincible now that he has the Most Famous Pop Star On The Planet rooting for him.
So, it’s the best team v the best quarterback in the year's biggest game. That sounds like it will be fun to me. For one final time, you can contribute to our live coverage of this NFL season. If you have email, and you probably do since it’s 2024, you can send your thoughts to hunter.felt.freelance@theguardian.com. If you’re still on Twitter or X or whatever Elon wants to call it, you can shoot them off to @HunterFelt. We’ll publish them throughout today’s coverage.
It’s Super Bowl LVIII featuring the San Francisco 49ers v the Kansas City Chiefs at Nevada’s Allegiant Stadium! The game is scheduled to start at 6:30 pm EST, but this is the Super Bowl! It’s not going to start on time! We will continue to provide updates before then as we can get you up to speed until the start of the Big Game.
It’s two and a half hours until kickoff and Allegiant Stadium is already filling up.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy arrives before the Sunday’s game. Photograph: Abbie Parr/AP
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, center, sits on the bench with teammates ahead of Super Bowl LVIII. Photograph: Eric Gay/AP
Recording artist Post Malone arrives before Super Bowl LVIII between the 49ers and Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium. Photograph: Mark J Rebilas/USA Today Sports
A young Kansas City Chiefs fan looks on in Allegaint Stadium before Sunday’s game. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters
Hunter will be with you shortly, in the meantime here are our writers’ predictions for today’s game (49ers fans may want to stop reading here):
49ers 24-27 Chiefs. This is one of those heart-mind picks. The Niners are a better all-around team. The Chiefs have an exceptional defense, but few answers to the specific strain the Niners’ offense puts on opponents. But they also have the most talented player walking the Earth at the game’s most valuable position. This is a Mahomes pick. The Chiefs shouldn’t be here; they’re a flawed team, with the worst offensive group Mahomes has worked during his career. But he’s still Mahomes – and it’s tough to pick against the quarterback continuing his dynastic run. Oliver Connolly
49ers 24-30 Chiefs. Purdy plays well, but the Chiefs D gets the better of him in the end. Andrew Lawrence
49ers 14-31 Chiefs. It would be fun to see the Niners win, just because they haven’t claimed a title this century/millennium while the Chiefs are already a modern dynasty. But this won’t be close: the Niners were lucky to get past the Packers and would have lost to the Lions if it wasn’t for a few doses of fortune. In both games, the defense was unimpressive and the result turned on plays that could have gone either way. The Ravens wiped the floor with San Francisco over Christmas, and the Chiefs will do the same on Sunday. Tom Lutz
49ers 33-28 Chiefs. Heart or head? Well, ego trumps both. The 49ers were my preseason darlings and you just have to stick, don’t you. (I also have to try to claw back credibility for suggesting the Ravens would miss the playoffs.) Shanahan is going to cook up something truly special to get his first ring. Next year’s trilogy fight is going to be spicy. Graham Searles
You can read our full rundown of predictions for the game, from the MVP to how each team can win here:
