🏈 It Had To Come Down To Chiefs Vs. 49ers

We finally have our Super Bowl matchup. The two most complete teams in the NFL will head to Miami. [View in browser]( [FOX SPORTS INSIDER WITH MARTIN ROGERS] In today’s FOX Sports Insider: At long last, the Super Bowl matchup is set ... a profile of one of the most hated NFL players of all time ... and George Kittle becomes a fashion icon. But you’d be forgiven for not immediately thinking of defense as the next two weeks tumble by and the greatest game of all ticks too slowly towards us, because it’s going to be hard to shift some images from our collective minds. Those pictures might be worth not just a thousand words, but a similar number of on-field points. The Chiefs and 49ers offenses resembled unstoppable steamrollers on Sunday, with a pair of championship game triumphs that quickly started to feel inevitable and proved to be exactly that. They are different beasts, these two teams, with different philosophies, pacing, risk levels and ways of going about their business. Yet they have one major facet in common: after five months of football, nobody has figured out an effective way of ceasing their relentless drives. [STORY IMAGE 1] With Kansas City, the usual terminology to describe offensive NFL play simply doesn’t apply. Their possessions aren’t drives, so much as sprints. They don’t march up the field, they charge up it, slicing their way through, around, over or so many other ways past any defense that thought it had a plan but realized it wasn’t nearly enough. Patrick Mahomes is a transcendent talent capable of shifting accepted realities, but his otherworldly magic would count for far less if not for the beautifully crafted way in which the Chiefs core arranges itself to spread the defense impossibly thin. Mahomes’ fleet feet and mischievous mind enable strikes so quick and devastating that they can change a game in an instant. The Tennessee Titans were outstanding towards the end of the season and through the first two weeks of the playoffs, then rode that confidence into an early 10-point lead in the AFC title tilt. Yet Mahomes and the Chiefs worked them out. They scored 28 consecutive points and befuddled every one of the Titans’ enterprising attempts to stifle them. Ten yards for four downs just isn’t sufficient when faced with this kind of output. Make it 20 and it might be a fair fight. Turns out Tyreek Hill wasn’t being cocky last week when he said the Chiefs couldn’t be stopped — he was just telling the truth. And then there is Mahomes, the ultimate X factor. [STORY IMAGE 2] “Patrick Mahomes can do everything on the football field; he’s got all of it,” [FS1’s Nick Wright said]( First Things First. “There’s no weaknesses in his game, he’s got every trait you would want from a QB. He’s clearly the best player in football. He’s already one of the greatest players we’ve ever seen.” Don’t expect people to start saying the same about Jimmy Garoppolo, just because San Francisco isn’t built that way. For the 49ers, there is no celebrity quarterback, nor indeed a star running back or a famed receiver. In fact, don’t expect anything in particular, because the 49ers’ secret is in being able to be whatever it needs to be on offense. The Green Bay Packers had no answer to them, hard as they tried. On this occasion it was Raheem Mostert, with the kind of career day that anyone would love to boast about, racking up a remarkable 220 yards and four touchdowns. The 49ers offense is electrifying in its own unique way. You don’t want to take your eyes away from it, because of its unpredictability. They have a multitude of ways to hurt you, and they will pick the best one that fits that precise moment in time. [STORY IMAGE 3] On Sunday, it was due to Mostert, running so hard, with so much space cleared for him, that Garoppolo threw the ball just eight times. Sometimes that’s not the case, as the quarterback had games of 424 and 349 yards this season, each with four TDs. Sometimes tight end George Kittle dominates. Sometimes it’s someone else, or a collection of someones. Forget about the 49ers being a defensive-based team. They are an everything team. “It is a copout to say it’s a combination of 49ers domination with a lackluster performance from the Packers,” [Danny Kanell said]( on First Things First. “It was just sheer domination from the 49ers. That was a complete annihilation on both sides.” There is a lot of history involved in this year’s Super Bowl matchup and most of it is old enough to be unfathomable to the main participants. Not only was Mahomes not born the last time the Chiefs reached a Super Bowl, neither was his father. [STORY IMAGE 4] The 49ers have the chance to join the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers with six franchise Super Bowl wins, but their most recent came a quarter of a century ago, and the game looked a lot different back then. While we love history, more relevant to this game is what is happening right now. Football is more geared to offense than ever before and moves at a frenetic pace and with extraordinary athleticism. Defense still wins championships, if only because stopping the best offenses feels so impossible. [STORY IMAGE 5] Here’s what others have said ... Peter King, NBC Sports: “The opening line: Chiefs by 1. I have no idea what that means, or who should be favored. Just as I find it hard to think the Niners will struggle to run it and will certainly torment Mahomes, I think it’s just as hard to think that Mahomes will be shut down.” Lindsay Jones, The Athletic: “To get that elusive Super Bowl championship, however, will take more than just sentimentality, and the Super Bowl matchup against the San Francisco 49ers pits Reid against another offensive guru in Kyle Shanahan. It features the 49ers’ dynamic run-heavy offense against Reid’s explosive passing game with Mahomes. It’s a football nerd’s dream. And it’ll be the chance for Reid to cement his legacy as one of the NFL’s greatest coaches ever.” Bill Barnwell, ESPN: “In my early thoughts on the 49ers-Chiefs matchup, it's difficult to imagine the Chiefs winning without getting a significant game from their star safety. Tyrann Mathieu's excellent instincts and wide range of skills are going to be critical in diagnosing the 49ers' run game and holding up in coverage against star tight end George Kittle. Mathieu's best seasons have ended in either injury or disappointment. Now, he finally has a chance to be a huge difference-maker in the biggest game of his life.” [IN OTHER WORDS] - [Albert Haynesworth doesn’t need your love]( ... just your kidney. Greg Bishop at Sports Illustrated provides a close look at the former NFL player who ran afoul of nearly every fan. - The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis on [the extraordinary life and legacy of the late Stuart Scott](. - SLAM magazine’s 2020 NBA trade deadline primer series adds a new edition every day and is already 12 teams deep. [Catch up on each team’s needs during the football lull](. [THE BRADY HUNCH] [THE BRADY HUNCH] Some days are a bit slow on the Tom Brady speculation trail. And some ... aren’t. Let’s just leave this here: Brady told Westwood One on Sunday that he was “open minded” about the possibility of playing somewhere other than New England next season. Did you ever think you’d hear him say that? Do you think he’s getting us used to the idea already? Brady made an appearance at UFC 246 in Las Vegas over the weekend — an event that also happened to be attended by Raiders owner Mark Davis. Just sayin’. [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED] [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED]( Everyone celebrates a big victory in their own special way. For George Kittle, the appropriate way of celebrating the San Francisco 49ers’ victory in the NFC Championship Game and subsequent trip to the Super Bowl was apparently to don a custom-made shirt sporting a picture of teammate Jimmy Garoppolo in his underwear, helpfully autographed by Garoppolo himself. We may not have any idea what the tight end said during his postgame press conference, but we are wondering where we can get one of those shirts. [VIEWER'S GUIDE] WWE Raw (USA Network, 8 p.m. ET) On the last episode of Raw before Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Andrade will defend the United States Championship against Rey Mysterio in a ladder match. Los Angeles Lakers at Boston Celtics (TNT, 7:30 p.m. ET) In a classic NBA rivalry matchup, the 34-8 Lakers will hit the road to take on the 27-14 Celtics. Tune in to see how these two playoff contenders fare against one another at midseason. Sheffield United vs. Manchester City (NBC Sportsnet, Tuesday, 2:30 p.m. ET) Liverpool have pretty much run away with the EPL at this point, but you can catch second place Man City in action on Tuesday. [BET OF THE DAY] [BET OF THE DAY] Odds provided by [FOX Bet]( Novak Djokovic to win the Australian Open: +110 Since 2006, there has only been one Australian Open that wasn’t won by either Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic or — in his lone Australian championship in 2009 — Rafael Nadal. Reigning champion Djokovic boasts the most men’s singles titles at the Australian Open, with seven, although Federer is close behind with six, tied with Roy Emerson for second on the all-time list. Djokovic is the betting favorite to win again, but if you want some longer action, Nadal is at +450, Daniil Medvedev is at +750, and Federer is currently at +800 to take the title. [WHAT THEY SAID] "A goal without a plan is a wish." — Herm Edwards [FOLLOW FOX SPORTS] [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( Download the FOX Sports app for live scores and streaming [App Store]( [Google Play]( Available on: [tvOS] [Roku] [fireTV] [androidtv] [XBOX] [Google chromecast] [tvOS] [Roku] [fireTV] [androidtv] [XBOX] [Google chromecast] Forwarded this message? [Sign up](. Trademark & Copyright Notice: ™ and © 2020 FOX Media LLC and FOX Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Please do not reply to this message. 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