Super Bowl 2020 Picks and Predictions

The Bleeding Green Nation writers picks are in for Super Bowl LIV!

You might be surprised to see that the BGN staff isn’t leaning with Andy Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs. The NFL odds from DraftKings Sportsbook have the San Francisco 49ers as 1.5 point underdogs but it’s a 5-5 split from the 10 BGN writers who weighed in below.

Feel free to post your own predictions or discuss the writer predictions in the comments. You can also vote for who you think will win the games. I’ll tally those results in a “BGN Community” column. Vote in the polls beneath the table.

Let’s get to this week’s picks!

BRANDON LEE GOWTON

C’mon, Andy. Just friggin win the Super Bowl already. You have the better quarterback. Get it done.

Chiefs 49, 49ers 42

BEN NATAN

The Chiefs offense has showed a lot of resolution over the course of the playoffs, shaking off slow starts to explode in the second half. Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and company have seemed to have this whole thing figured out. The Niners offense will run into an underrated chiefs defense that will put pressure on Jimmy G to make a difference. In what should be a spectacular game, the best quarterback comes away with the win.

Chiefs 31, Niners 27

SHAMUS CLANCY

The Chiefs fall beyond early after quick touchdown strikes to George Kittle and Deebo Samuel. Big Red starts to panic, throws out everything that worked for him and the Chiefs’ offense up until this point in the season and crumbles under the pressure. It’s a sight that’s been all too common during his tenure in the league, as Andy Reid enters yet another offseason without a Super Bowl ring. NFL teams begin looking for the “Next Kyle Shanahan” instead of the “Next Sean McVay” to set their franchises on the right path.

49ers 31, Chiefs 20

ALEXIS CHASSEN

I’m really pulling for a Big Red Super Bowl victory, but I just don’t know that it happens this year. The Chiefs have been successful at comebacks throughout the postseason, but the Niners would have to take the foot off the gas to allow for a comeback and I don’t see that happening. San Francisco’s offense has been good in both the passing and ground game — Jimmy Garoppolo only passed the ball 8 times in the NFC Championship and still managed to put up 37 points against the Packers — and can adjust to whatever the Chiefs defense is able to throw at them. Both offenses are dynamic, so this game will come down to defense, and I think the 49ers will have the better defense on Sunday.

Niners 42, Chiefs 38

TYLER JACKSON

I don’t trust Andy Reid. The Chiefs have started slow this postseason which probably aids San Francisco. The 49ers could probably make Donnel Pumphrey look like a competent running back. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense and running the ball keeps it away from KC’s explosive air attack. It’s probably worth pointing out as well that San Francisco has a pass rush that could punish the Chiefs if they lean pass heavy. I think SF builds a lead while Mahomes storms back and Andy Reid’s second Super Bowl in Florida ends much like the last.

49ers 31, Chiefs 27

LEE SIFFORD

Andy Reid is going to finally do it. After looking to be down and out in two straight weeks, the Chiefs have shown a resilience that is reminiscent of the Super Bowl LII Champion Eagles team from just a couple of years ago. While the 49ers have been a fun story to watch, I just don’t think their defense has quite what it takes to slow down the juggernaut that is Patrick Mahomes and KC offense. It should be a close one. I’ll be rooting for ya, Big Red and Shady.

Chiefs 30, 49ers 27

BENJAMIN SOLAK

The 49ers are the more complete team; the Chiefs have the star talent at the position that matters most. With two weeks of prep, I tend to lean towards the coaching staff and team play that I trust more: that belongs to San Francisco.

Two things stand out: the Niners’ ability to penetrate with their front four, and the diversity of their running attack. When you can sight adjust your run blocking on the fly and rip off chunk running gains on early downs, you shorten the game, which limits the number of possessions that Patrick Mahomes gets. Steve Spagnuolo’s defense wants to send pressure from all over, and will luck into some TFLs accordingly — but that’s a double-edged sword that will allow the Niners to get explosive runs and win with quick play-action. Meanwhile, the Niners will use quarters looks defensively too get safeties involved in the run fit and allow their defensive front to attack gaps and disrupt upfield without trying to read the complex backfield action from Kansas City. Sure they’ll give up some big passing plays — but they were gonna do that anyway.

Should be close, should be fun. Go Andy, but I lean Shanny in this one.

Niners 26, Chiefs 24

JOHN STOLNIS

Sometimes there’s a real battle that goes on between your heart and your head. Your heart wants to pick Andy Reid and the Chiefs because it’s been half a century since they won their first and only Super Bowl and it feels like half a century that Andy Reid has bee searching for his first elusive ring. There’s no doubt the Chiefs have the best player on the field suiting up for them on Sunday, and Patrick Mahomes is probably the most Andy Reid-proof player he’s ever had. Mahomes can make up for any gameplanning or clock management issues that sometimes come along with Andy in big games like this. With their incredible team speed on offense and a weapon like Mahomes, it’s hard to see how anyone can slow them down. But the 49ers aren’t just anybody. Sure, they don’t throw the ball much, but Jimmy Garrapolo can sling it when he has to. San Francisco’s defense is legitimately amazing and they have the firepower along the defensive line to actually get to Mahomes and rattle him. Kyle Shanahan is a brilliant young coach who has known every right button to push so far this year and, when you look at the two rosters in their totality, I believe San Francisco has the better roster of the two.

This feels like a close one and, in the end, Andy is heart-broken once more. Sorry Big Red. :-(

49ers 31, Chiefs 24

MATT HARKENREADER

In what is shaping up to be an immensely more entertaining Super Bowl than last year’s snooze fest, there are plenty of reasons either team can win. They say “defense wins championships,” and while the 49ers’ defense is objectively superior to the Chiefs’, they have been prone to giving up points at times this season, especially to mobile quarterbacks (see: Murray, Kyler and Wilson, Russell). On the offensive side of the ball, San Francisco’s exotic running game might have been the cure to Kansas City’s explosive offense... if the Chiefs hadn’t already essentially sidelined the best running back in the league in the AFC Championship through their relentless onslaught of scoring. In the modern NFL, Super Bowls often come down to which team has the better quarterback, and there’s no mistaking that the unwavering and tenacious Patrick Mahomes will be the best passer on the field on Sunday. His rocket arm and subtle elusiveness will be enough to counter a fierce 49ers pass rush and bring the Lombardi back to Kansas City for the first time since 1969 (nice).

Go get that ring, Andy.

Chiefs 34, 49ers 27

DAVE MANGELS

This is a game of trust. Or, lack of trust.

Do I trust Andy Reid? No, I don’t. I’ve got years of experience it, and he hasn’t changed in Kansas City. He still has the same clock management issues he’s always had, just now he has Patrick Mahomes so it looks like everything is better.

Does Kyle Shanahan trust Jimmy Garoppolo? It doesn’t seem like it! Garoppolo has 27 attempts in the playoffs, which may be in part attributable to the cold sweats Shanahan wakes up in having nightmares about Super Bowl 51. If this game is a shootout, do you trust that this coach/Qb combo can get the job done?

One team has a coach I can’t trust. The other team who can’t trust his own QB. So’ll go with the QB I do trust.

Chiefs 24, 49ers 16

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