Super Bowl 54: Opening Night Predictions and Schedule for 49ers vs. Chiefs

Super Bowl Week has finally arrived, folks. The 2020 Pro Bowl is over—congratulations to the AFC squad—and the football world is now fully focused on the lead-up to Super Bowl LIV.

This will be a week filled with media events, interviews, recaps and previews. On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will do battle in the actual game.

While the fanfare of Super Bowl Week is usually entertaining, it's the game itself that counts. Here, we'll examine some of the latest storylines for Super Bowl LIV, along with the week's schedule and the latest odds and over/unders from Caesars.

Super Bowl Week Schedule

Opening Night Interviews

When: Monday, January 27 at 9 p.m. ET

TV: NFL Network

NFL Honors

When: Saturday, February 1 at 8 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream: Fox, Fox Sports Go

Super Bowl LIV

When: Sunday, February 2, at 6:30 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream: Fox, Fox Sports Go

Line, O/U: KC -1.5, 54.5

Prediction: Kansas City 31-28

Mahomes is Early MVP Favorite

Kansas City is the early favorite for what should be a highly competitive game and a contrast of styles. The line saw little movement since the start of Pro Bowl week, which is a sign that bettors are fairly split between the two teams. Kansas City may only have the edge because it has the more prolific quarterback.

When teams appear evenly matched, it often makes sense to back the better signal-caller. In this case, Patrick Mahomes—who has one MVP and two appearances in the AFC title game on this three-year resume—appears to be that quarterback.

This does not mean that Jimmy Garoppolo cannot give the 49ers a win in a clutch situation—Nick Foles outdueled Tom Brady in the big game just a couple of years ago.

After watching Mahomes mount two furious comebacks in the postseason while Garoppolo played game-manager, however, it's fair to say that Mahomes is carrying more momentum into the contest.

Unsurprisingly, Mahomes is the early favorite for Super Bowl MVP, according to Bovada.

The top odds for Super Bowl MVP are as follows:

Patrick Mahomes: 21-20

Jimmy Garoppolo: 13-5

Raheem Mostert: 7-1

George Kittle: 14-1

Travis Kelce: 14-1

Tyreek Hill: 15-1

Damien Williams: 20-1

Nick Bosa: 20-1

49ers Prepping to Face Speed

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

The 49ers and Chiefs faced off in Week 3 of last season, a game that was memorable because it marked the end of Garoppolo's 2018 campaign. He suffered a torn ACL against Kansas City and didn't return to the playing field until this season.

The game was also notable because it gave San Francisco a firsthand look at the Chiefs' explosive offense. Mahomes and Co. dropped 37 points on the 49ers en route to an 11-point victory.

49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh believes that this year's Chiefs are just as dangerous as they were a year ago.

"They're similar," Saleh said, per Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. "They're very explosive. Mahomes has gotten better. They're, at every position, it almost looks like they got their roster from the Olympic relay team and threw them all on the football field."

Saleh plans to counter Kansas City's offensive speed by bringing the heat on Mahomes: "When you have edge rushers, it speeds up the process of the quarterback, and, not that he needs speeding up, he already gets rid of it pretty quick. But it changes the game."

With guys like Nick Bosa, Dee Ford, DeForest Buckner and Solomon Thomas at his disposal, expect Saleh to find ways to pressure Mahomes.

Coleman Making Progress

The 49ers and Chiefs are relatively healthy coming into Super Bowl Week. The most notable injuries on the injury report are 49ers running back Tevin Coleman and Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, both of whom are listed as questionable.

While Jones was limited last week, Coleman did not practice as he continues to recover from a dislocated shoulder. An MRI at the end of the week did yield some positive results, however.

"They were positive results, so we'll see how he is next week but wasn't able to go today," 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said, per NFL Media's Jelani Scott.

Coleman rushed for just 21 yards on six carries in the NFC title game before leaving with the injury.

While San Francisco has enough running-back talent to overcome a potential Coleman absence—Raheem Mostert and Matt Breida each rushed for more than 500 yards in the regular season—the 49ers would undoubtedly love to have their three-headed rushing attack intact on Sunday.

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Adam Lefkoe and Brian Westbrook are joined by Producer Ingber on The Lefkoe Show to predict every single possible storyline that will be dissected, trisected, and incepted in the days leading up to the Super Bowl. From revenge possibilities to assistant coaches who deserve special shout-outs, listen to this episode so you'll have every conceivable pre-game angle covered.