COLUMN: Really hard to pick against Mahomes in Super Bowl

Oh, I guess it’s Super Bowl week. Sorry, I’ve been armpit deep in Youtube highlights and haven’t been able to pay attention to real sports outside of Chicago savior, future 7-time Super Bowl Champion, and perhaps literal superhero Caleb Williams.

But there’s a real game this week. I might watch, who knows? Depends on if I make myself good snacks or not.

The Chiefs are in again with Patrick Mahomes, another franchise savior and superhero along with my girl Taylor. New album April 19.

The 49ers are in with Brock Purdy. Who is, well, Brock Purdy. OK, that’s not fair to Brock Purdy. Did you know that Brock Purdy threw for more yards and touchdowns this year than any QB in Chicago history (until we draft Caleb)? So clearly he’s no scrub.

Also, the 49ers have had impressive playoff comebacks, showing they are more than just a team that gets a lead and then runs the ball away to milk the clock. They can score and come back, which Kyle Shanahan had not shown he could do as a coach to this point in his career.

But it’s Patrick Mahomes on the other side. Not Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen (who are also great!), but Patrick Mahomes. He may go down as the best QB ever (you heard me, Tom). How do you bet against him?

Well, first you live in Wisconsin that for some absurd reason doesn’t allow sports betting, so you can’t even bet at all. It’s saved me hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars, but come on, Wisconsin. Everybody else is cool. Why can’t you be cool?

Second, you have to pick against the best QB, which is a very scary proposition. Quarterback is the most important position in sports and it’s not even close. So when you have an elite-of-the-elite QB going against Brock Purdy, who I think most people would put in the 10-15 range, it’s a real challenge to squint and see a path to victory.

But I’ll try.

First, the receiving corps for the Chiefs is not great. If the 49ers play aggressive coverage, knock the receivers off their spots, and force Mahomes to wait longer to throw, maybe the pass rush gets there.

I think the 49ers’ weapons on offense are as good as anybody’s, so if they can get McCaffrey and Deebo the ball in space and work Kittle and Aiyuk down the field a bit, there are big plays to be had.

A lot of it comes down to Purdy not making mistakes. He had some real tough moments in the last two games where passes should have been intercepted but weren’t. If the Chiefs continue to miss those chances, then the 49ers have a real shot to win.

But come on. I’m not picking against Patrick Mahomes. Great quarterbacks bring up all those around them, which is why the Bears are moving on from Justin Fields and pivoting to Caleb Williams. It’s hard to win a Super Bowl with a great QB. It’s really, really, really hard to do it with a good or average one.

I expect the Chiefs to win, but the game to be close throughout. Shanahan is incredibly bright (so is Andy Reid) so he will know how to exploit parts of the Chiefs’ defense and cover up some of the issues with his QB.

But expect 2-3 incredible plays from Mahomes. Expect him to hoist his third Super Bowl trophy. Expect a fan whose team perhaps had a chance to draft him to cry one final tear before we draft our own Mahomes in April. Give me Chiefs 30, 49ers 27.