Super Bowl 2020 prediction: 49ers' speed too much for Chiefs to handle — not the other way around

Vinnie Iyer

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Super Bowl 2020 prediction: 49ers' speed too much for Chiefs to handle — not the other way around image

MIAMI — All Chiefs media sessions leading up to Super Bowl Sunday made it crystal clear how many stories were being written about the speed of Kansas City's offense, and how it would get the better of the 49ers' talented defense.

But the reality is San Francisco's offensive speed is just as or arguably more abundant. And facing a Kansas City defense that has issues at linebacker and in the secondary, it will be the biggest reason why they will win Super Bowl 54.

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49ers safety Jimmie Ward knows his team's defensive back seven is better equipped to handle the Chiefs because of how physical they can play from those positions. Ward and his defensive teammates are up for the challenge — and he thinks the 49ers can flip the script with more big plays from their offense.

"It's really tough going against our offense, especially when you put the shoulder pads on and it also gets physical," Ward said. "Let people keep doubting our offense, calling it a gimmick offense or whatever. I love it that our offense isn't getting the same kind of credit, because those guys are going to be fired up."

The 49ers have plenty of 'The Flash' to go along with their substance. Their top scarlet speedsters are their running backs, led by Raheem Mostert and Matt Breida. 

When Mostert scored on a 36-yard run to open his four-touchdown dominance of the Packers' run defense in the NFC championship game, he was clocked at 21.87 miles per hour, which is no surprise for a man who ran the 100-meter dash in 10.15 seconds as an actual track star at Purdue.

Breida was even faster when he hit an NFL-best top speed of 22.3 miles per hour during his 83-yard touchdown run against the Browns on "Monday Night Football" in Week 5. That's not shocking, either, give he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds when he came out of Georgia Southern.

For Mostert and Breida to burst past the third level of the defense, it requires their taking full advantage of coach Kyle Shanahan's zone blocking scheme and agile offensive line play. The fact that they get off to the races so well within the framework of the offense makes their fleet feats more impressive.

"You can be the fastest guy in the world, you can be Usain Bolt, but you have to turn that into football plays," Breida said. "We have so many super-fast guys where if you can get them into any kind of open space, it can be a touchdown."

In the backfield, the 49ers also have Tevin Coleman, who can run the 40 in under 4.4 seconds, too. At wide receiver, rookie Deebo Samuel, Emmanuel Sanders and Kendrick Borune all can stretch the field on long when needed, but their real danger comes in how they all explode after the catch. George Kittle, the best tight end in the NFL, is the rare home-run threat at the position. Don't forget about four-time Pro Bowl fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who burned the Chiefs for a 35-yard TD in the teams' 2018 meeting.

"We've got fullbacks running deep routes," Samuel said. "You never know what's going to happen in our offense. In some way, it's going to happen."

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The 49ers went into the season not knowing how much immediate impact Samuel would have. They also didn't have Sanders until they acquired him in a midseason trade with the Broncos. Bourne has emerged as the third best option. San Francisco has done well to streamline its speed by discovering the right mix of big-play options.

"It's been kind of a whirlwind, for sure," 49ers wide receivers coach Wes Welker said of the process. "I was just trying to get every single guy as good as I possibly could, and make them even better, helping them on their journey."

The 49ers' rare brand of speed also manifests itself in another way, as all their wideouts and of course Kittle explode downfield to help as blockers, too.

"If you watch Kyle's offenses over the years, that's a non-negotiable. It's something you really harp on," Welker said. "Any time you run for 285 yards in a championship game, it's a total team effort."

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The Chiefs have fielded a much-improved defense during their eight-game winning streak. They did well to contain the Titans and Texans, but for the most part, they haven't faced an offense of the 49ers' caliber since beating the Ravens 33-28 in Week 3. In that game, on a day when Lamar Jackson didn't run as much as usual, Kansas City gave up 452 yards. Baltimore was balanced and explosive with 203 yards rushing and 267 yards passing.

The 49ers beat the Packers with quarterback Jimmy Garopplo needing to attempt only eight passes. They've won a game where he's dropped back 47 times. He has excelled at facilitating San Francisco's speed by both getting the ball out quickly to his receivers in open field and extending plays to find guys streaking downfield.

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The Chiefs will do their best to slow down the 49ers with safety Tyrann Mathieu and others, but they are not built to cover the speed and quickness of the 49ers overall, especially when you add the elements of play-action and misdirection. The degree of difficulty is then raised threefold by the 49ers' depth, versatility and Shanahan's infinite playbook.

"We go with whatever Kyle draws up and whatever he wants us to do, we execute," Sanders said. "That's the only thing that's on our mind, executing at a high level."

The 49ers will do just that to outrun and, more importantly, outscore the Chiefs in Super Bowl 54.

Vinnie Iyer

Vinnie Iyer Photo

Vinnie Iyer, has been with TSN since 1999, not long after graduating from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He has produced NFL content for more than 20 years, turning his attention to full-time writing in 2007. A native of St. Louis, Mo. but now a long-time resident of Charlotte, N.C. Vinnie’s top two professional sports teams are Cardinals and Blues, but he also carries purple pride for all things Northwestern Wildcats. He covers every aspect of the NFL for TSN including player evaluations, gambling and fantasy football, where he is a key contributor. Vinnie represents TSN as host of the “Locked On Fantasy Football” podcast on the Locked On network. Over his many years at TSN, he’s also written about MLB, NBA, NASCAR, college football, tennis, horse racing, film and television. His can’t-miss program remains “Jeopardy!”, where he was once a three-day champion and he is still avid about crossword puzzles and trivia games. When not watching sports or his favorite game show, Vinnie is probably watching a DC, Marvel or Star Wars-related TV or movie.