The eyes of the world will be on Las Vegas on Sunday evening when the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers compete in Super Bowl LVIII inside the Allegiant Stadium as the NFL 2023 season comes to a close.
The Chiefs are looking to make a successful defence of the Vince Lombardi trophy while the 49ers go in search of the title for the first time since 1994 in what would be a historic occasion for them were they to seal it.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are becoming regulars at the big dance. We usually see them get there courtesy of battering their opposition with high powered offensive play but that hasn’t been the case this season. This term they have relied more on their defensive skills and ground out a lot more victories but the one thing that we know about this Chiefs outfit is that they have a number of elite offensive talents who thrive on the biggest of stages.
Entering the playoffs there was a question mark about whether the Chiefs could go on the road and win postseason matches but they showed in wins in Buffalo and Baltimore that they can do exactly that. They weren’t perfect in those matches but when they need plays made they were and that will give them confidence. Most of this team were involved in the win at the Super Bowl last year so there will be no shortage of belief in this Kansas City side.
San Francisco 49ers
Unlike the Kansas City Chiefs, the San Francisco 49ers dominated their Conference this season and sewed up the number one seed pretty early and were able to prepare for a strong postseason challenge. They have had to overcome a few hurdles along the way in beating the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions but when they found their groove in those matches they were able to come through relatively comfortably enough.
The 49ers have been lauded for their defence for a while now and this season they have added a top offense to that. Most of it comes through Christian McCaffrey and the San Francisco outfit will need their star running back to come to the party in this match if they are going to win it. If he does and it frees up space for the likes of George Kittle and Deebo Samuel to do their thing then the 49ers will fancy their chances of ending that lengthy wait for a Super Bowl crown.
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Betting
If you have followed our NFL bets all season you will be sat with a 9/1 betting slip for the San Francisco 49ers to win this match and that is something I’m more than happy to side with, especially as the 9ers have already landed the place money. This is the Super Bowl though and I have to have some bets with the first of those coming in the form of the point line where 48.5 points feels too high in a match between two good defences.
I expected to see a lot of running the ball anyway but these defences are decent enough in pressurising the quarterback and will go hunting for sacks. They are also solid in the red zone which will be important in keeping the score down. Kansas City are no longer the free scoring side they have been in seasons gone by and both defences match up pretty well to their opposing offense. I think the under is the play here.
Player Props
I like three player props in this Super Bowl where I am a fan of both of the tight ends. I expect pressure to come on both quarterbacks so finding their biggest receiving option makes perfect sense. George Kittle has a receiving yards line of 46.5 which looks well on the low side to me with Brock Purdy in the biggest game of his life and likely to be facing plenty of pressure. It is 70.5 for Travis Kelce who has come alive in this playoff series and I don’t expect anything to change in that regard here. San Francisco have just allowed nine catches to Sam Laporta a couple of weeks ago and Kelce is a similar size and build and he is Mahomes’ favourite target as ever. I expect both lines to be covered.
I’m not so convinced that Justin Watson will cover 17.5 yards though. Kadarius Toney has been in and out of the Chiefs roster this season because of injury but he is said to have a clean bill of health heading into this Super Bowl and with the likes of Toney, Rashee Rice. Skyy Moore and Travis Kelce all ahead of him as well as running backs who can catch passes, Watson is going to be looking for injuries or freak play calls to see much time on the field let alone have a pass come his way. You are probably looking at a couple of catches for him to cover this line and I don’t think they are coming his way.
Novelty Bets
I’ll go with a couple of novelty bets with the first one coming before the kick off even takes place as the 1 minute 31 seconds or longer for the national anthem has got me reeled right in for a Super Bowl in Las Vegas. Reba McEntire is the singer of the anthem this year and while she tends to go close to the 90 second mark based on her previous anthem singing experiences in the NFL, none of them have been at a Super Bowl. The leading YouTube video of her singing was from 1999 when she took exactly 90 seconds in a Dallas Cowboys match. 25 years on and you would imagine she is going to need to pace her breathing and voice much better. Anthem notes always get extended at the Super Bowl just because of the profile it offers the singer. Expect the anthem to go beyond 91 ticks here.
I’ve backed Travis Kelce to cover his receiving yards line and I’m going to nibble him to be the MVP for the match as well. You need to have been living under a cave to not know that Kelce is going out with Taylor Swift, who is expected in Vegas for the Super Bowl. 20% of the vote for this award is a public vote so he could probably stink the place out and the Swifties would get his vote tally going. The rest of it comes from the broadcasting team and CBS have spent every moving second that they have done Kansas City games this season with their camera fixed on Swift’s every move and cutting back to Kelce. He will get so much air time here and a couple of big plays, a touchdown and pushing 100 yards puts him right in the mix.
Tips
Back Under 48.5 points for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Coral
Back G.Kittle – Over 46.5 receiving yards for a 3/10 stake at 1.90 with Coral
Back T.Kelce – Over 70.5 receiving yards for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Boylesports
Back him here:
Back J.Watson – Under 17.5 receiving yards for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
Back National Anthem Length – One minute and 31 seconds or more for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Sky Bet
Back T.Kelce MVP for a 1/10 stake at 15.00 with 888sport
Back him here:
