Chiefs vs 49ers: Who comes out on top in Super Bowl 58 tale of the tape?
By Tyler Brown
Defensive Backs
The battle of the two defensive back units is the most lopsided victory in the Chiefs' direction, other than the quarterback battle. The development and the play of cornerbacks L’Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie have been nothing short of pure dominance. Sneed did not allow a touchdown all regular season and McDuffie earned a first-team all-pro nod in his second season in the NFL.
The safety play has been sound, too. Nothing jumps off the page at you, but veteran Justin Reid is a thumper, Mike Edwards is their ball-hawk and rookie Chamarri Conner has filled in nicely for Bryan Cook. Edwards has filled in the back-end work that Cook played before he was injured against the Green Bay Packers in early December and Conner has played closer to the line of scrimmage and has been one of the highest rated safety’s throughout the playoffs.
Former Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward is San Francisco’s best defensive back, earning all-pro honors this season. Their other corner Deommodore Lenoir and their safeties Ji’Ayir Brown and Tashaun Gipson Sr. have not been complete liabilities all season, but they have been shredded through two postseason games.
If the Chiefs offense can implement what the Packers and Lions did to the 49ers secondary, it will be a fruitful day for Mahomes and the company. In both games, they got blown out quickly and recovered in the second half to allow the offense to mount a comeback. The Packers carried a seven-point lead into the fourth quarter and the Lions got out to a 24-7 lead. If the Chiefs can pull those types of leads off, there will not be any coming back with the way the Chiefs' defense is playing.