Ted Schwerzler’s Super Bowl LVIII Prediction
While the Minnesota Vikings saw their season come to an end weeks ago, they played against both the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs this past season. As the two teams meet up in Las Vegas for the Super Bowl, the NFL schedule concludes. So who wins, and how does it happen?
Ted Schwerzler’s Super Bowl LVIII Prediction
Maybe it’s not great to bury the lede, but I’m not picking against Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl. The San Francisco 49ers are an incredibly talented team, and Brock Purdy deserves plenty more credit for his impact than he gets, but the battle-tested veteran will earn his third ring.
Kansas City has put Mahomes in less-than-enviable positions all season long. The front office gave him arguably the worst wide receiver group he has ever had, and without the emergence of Rashee Rice, it could have been a wasted year amid a prime for one of the greatest quarterbacks we will ever see. Travis Kelce has remained a consistent and reliable option, but he isn’t the same youngster he was a few years ago.
Andy Reid has been in this position plenty of times, and there seems to be no coach who is unphased by big games to the level that Reid is. Maybe it’s because he is so comfortable knowing who his leader on the field is, or maybe it’s because he has seen so much football throughout his career, but his stoic personality on the field never allows the game to get too big.
Kyle Shanahan will be looking to finish the job his team set out to accomplish last year. It would have been great to see Purdy remain healthy for the entire game against the Philadelphia Eagles, and the result may have been substantially different if he had done so. This time, we will see a full complement of 49ers talent available, and they will present matchup nightmares for any opponent they come up against.
Looking at both rosters, it’s also hard to argue against San Francisco not being the more complete team. While the game isn’t quite a pick ’em, the oddsmakers see it that way, too, leaning just slightly towards the NFC Champion. Shanahan’s quality throughout all facets of the game will present a nightmare for Kansas City to match up against, but ultimately, I think it comes down to the quarterbacks.
Purdy has been an awesome story, and with the core around him, he may win a ring one day. Having to go up against Mahomes in his first chance is not desirable, and it will force him to be near perfect. Expecting a slight slip-up at some point along the way, that should be just enough for the Chiefs to hang on and emerge victorious. I’d expect a close game that uninvolved fans should find exciting. Give me Kansas City in a 27-24 victory for the first Las Vegas Super Bowl.
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Ted Schwerzler is a blogger from the Twin Cities that is focused on all things Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He’s active on Twitter and writes weekly for Twins Daily. As a former college athlete and avid sports fan, covering our pro teams with a passion has always seemed like such a natural outlet.
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