The support seems to come to the Chiefs, the GOAT is not adding to that.
The predictions for Super Bowl LVIII are coming and few want to bet against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. The GOAT is not one of them.
Former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice was at the Senior Bowl watching his son Brenden compete and gave his own prediction on the upcoming championship game. He also admitted to being a “Swiftie”— take from that what you will.
“The Super Bowl?” Rice said when talking to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero “I’m thinking 28-21, San Francisco.”
Rice later clarified he was, “No expert.”
Rice isn’t alone in the minority, however. Former 49res executive Carmen Policy made an appearance on 95.7 The Game and discussed how the 49ers had come a long ways. He then said htis:
“That catch by [Brandon] Aiyuk, which I call “The Ladybug Catch.” I don’t see how the 49ers can lose. Something is hanging onto their shoulders. And of course if you grew up where I did, ladybugs were really respected. I don’t know if you guys, if you saw a ladybug on your jacket, you don’t dare crush it. You don’t even flick it. You may give it a little blow, but they were respected bugs. I don’t see how you can beat the ladybug effect on this game.”
Outside of the GOAT, the 49ers are not getting much love in the first crop of score predictions. In the NFL Network preview, only two of the 10 analysts thought the 49ers would get the job done.
Honestly, you can’t fault the overwhelming support of the Chiefs. To quote the great Ric Flair, “To be the man, you have to beat the man.” Nothing could be more accurate than this. Patrick Mahomes has won two of these and is looking to go back-to-back for his third one.
While the analysts are swinging for the Chiefs, the betting space seems to be going the other direction. On Draft Kings Sportsbook, the line increased with the 49ers being favored by two points. I keep thinking that’s going to go down , but it seems to be the opposite. It started at 2.5, then 1.5, then 1, and now it’s at 2 as the week leading up to the Super Bowl starts. It could mean some money is coming in for the 49ers, or it could just be adjusting things to get some more action on the game. Either way, it’s still interesting the 49ers are favored. While I am rooting for the 49ers to win this game, and think they could pull it off if their defense can get things together, two points for the Chiefs is pretty generous.
In Super Bowl LIV, the Chiefs were favored by 1.5 points so things are definitely different years later. Hopefully the 49ers can show up, take care of business and we aren’t biting nails up 10 points with seven minutes to go.