Super Bowl LIV: Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
With the Super Bowl right around the corner, there is a ton of buzz building to the most popular sporting event in the United States. This year’s matchup for Super Bowl LIV is between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. Both of these teams feature dynamic offenses and many expect to see a lot of scoring this year, which would make sense since it features two offensive-minded head coaches in Andy Reid and Kyle Shanahan. All season and postseason, these coaches have found ways to use their variety of skill players at the wide receiver and tight end positions. These offensive weapons can be game-breakers and whichever group outperforms the other could end up being the difference in the biggest game of the year. Let’s take a look at the WRs and TEs for each team to see what kind of advantage they might have.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs have playmakers all over the field for 2018 NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes to throw to headlined by Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. Tyreek Hill is a different level of top speed; he’s faster than everyone else and he plays like it, too. Hill is one of the most exciting players in the league and he could make a huge play at any time. Kelce is still one of the best two tight ends in the NFL and he is one of the best TEs to ever play the game. Finally with a chance to play on the biggest stage, look for him to shine. Beyond the two superstars, the Chiefs also have Sammy Watkins who has some of the strongest hands in the NFL. Their second-round pick this year, Mecole Hardman is another one of the fastest players in the league, so he could make a huge play at any second as well. Lastly, they have Demarcus Robinson as the last of the top-four receivers who is a solid player that is definitely reliable enough to make a few plays.
San Francisco 49ers
Kyle Shanahan is an offensive genius as evidenced by his zone run scheme working to perfection with Raheem Mostert in the NFC Championship that Jimmy G only had to attempt eight passes. That doesn’t mean that the 49ers aren’t capable of doing damage in the air though, especially with the other top-two tight end in the NFL in George Kittle on their side. Kittle is dominant as a blocker and when he catches a ball, it takes a whole crew of defenders to bring him down. Kittle is a matchup nightmare who will definitely step up for the 49ers in both phases of the offense. The team made a midseason trade for Emmanuel Sanders who is as reliable as ever playing more games than anyone else in the NFL this season due to not having a bye week because of being traded. Quality veteran players like that can always step up in big moments, so the trade for him could pay off in a big way for the 49ers in the Super Bowl. Their second-round pick, Deebo Samuel, is becoming the stud that draft analysts expected him to be as he has improved steadily throughout the season. Samuel could break out in a big way if given the targets to do so. Without speedster Marquise Goodwin, the receiving corps is rounded out by Kendrick Bourne, Richie James Jr., Dante Pettis and Jordan Matthews.
It seems like every year there is always a surprise player that makes a huge impact.
Bottom Line
After examining this positional matchup, it seems like the Chiefs have the talent advantage and their offensive weapons are one of the best groups in the league. However, the 49ers have a potent offense with a brilliant scheme. Kittle is an incredible player who could dominate the game and Emmanuel Sanders and Deebo Samuel could definitely make some big plays as well. At the end of the day, though, I think the Chiefs WRs and TEs will outperform the 49ers because of the top-tier talent the Chiefs have to offer at those positions, but also because I think Patrick Mahomes will give them the chance to make more plays in general. I expect Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce to make game-breaking plays and I could see Mecole Hardman blowing the top off the defense with his speed. Overall, I think think this will be quite an exciting Super Bowl to watch, though, in part to these positional groups and I hope and predict that Andy Reid finally gets his well-deserved ring as the Chiefs win 34-30.
