With the Kansas City Chiefs set to face the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV, Sportsnet’s expert panel is ready to weigh in on who will win the day, and who will leave Miami empty-handed.
Andy McNamara
The Pick: San Francisco 49ers The Score: 24–21 Super Bowl MVP: Raheem Mostert
The Breakdown: The only way the 49ers pull this off is if they keep it low scoring. If Jimmy G has to come back from behind and play catch-up with Patrick Mahomes then the Chiefs will be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. What’s interesting is that Kansas City essentially got a tune-up for San Francisco’s run-first offence in defeating the Derrick Henry–led Tennessee Titans. They rose to that occasion by limiting the bulldozer to 69 yards on the ground and forced Ryan Tannehill to go to the air 31 times.
San Francisco needs to find a way to make its late-season stud running back Raheem Mostert not just relevant, but dominant. The last running back to win a Super Bowl MVP was Denver’s Terrell Davis all the way back at SB XXXII, and I feel Mostert is going to have to play at an MVP level for his team to limit the time KC’s dynamic offence is on the field.
In the head-coach chess match, I’m giving the edge to Kyle Shanahan’s family-legacy zone-read offensive strategy that’s a modernized variation of his father Mike’s when he won back-to-back Super Bowls with the Broncos. Shanahan’s in-game creativity and adjustments are some of the best in the NFL, and if Andy Reid’s old nemesis — clock management — comes knocking, then I’ll bet on San Francisco.
The 49ers win it by a field goal.
Geoff Lowe
The Pick: Kansas City Chiefs The Score: 35-31 Super Bowl MVP: Patrick Mahomes
The Breakdown: The Chiefs flip their playoff script, charging out to an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter instead of digging themselves a hole. Rather than abandon the rushing game, though, Shanahan doubles down and the 49ers put together one of those run-only drives to get San Francisco back into the game as the Niners defence shuts out K.C. in the second quarter. A Robbie Gould field goal pulls the 49ers within four as the first half closes, 14-10 Chiefs.
Then both teams go off in the third.
Mahomes leads the Chiefs to quick back-to-back third-quarter touchdown drives, and then Shanahan finally unleashes Playoff Garoppolo with his team down 28-10. The 49ers rally behind their quarterback, scoring three straight touchdowns and 21 unanswered points as San Fran’s defence stifles Mahomes and Co. for what amounts to more than a full quarter.
Down 31-28 with only a few minutes to go in the game, Mahomes gets a shot to lead the Chiefs to victory – and he does just that. No. 15 finds Travis Kelce in the back of the end zone with less than a minute left in the game. Jimmy G gets a shot at his own game-winning drive, but ultimately falls short and it rains red and white confetti in Miami as the Chiefs lift the Lombardi for the first time since January 1970.
Emily Sadler
The Pick: Kansas City Chiefs The Score: 47-41 Super Bowl MVP: Patrick Mahomes
The Breakdown: Down 12-0 halfway through the first quarter, Kansas City fans start fretting that the slow-starting Chiefs are digging themselves a hole too big to climb out of… but then they remember they’ve got Mahomes. The king of the comeback does just that, and while Garoppolo can’t keep up in what becomes an offensive shootout, he doesn’t have to — Mostert keeps the Chiefs’ defence busy trying to figure out how to shut him down like they did Henry two weeks prior.
The result is a high-scoring — actually, the highest-scoring — Super Bowl that comes down to a single score. (After last year’s low-scoring, defensive dud, the football gods owe us this one, right?)
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Donnovan Bennett
The Pick: Kansas City Chiefs The Score: 31–30 Super Bowl MVP: Patrick Mahomes
The Breakdown: The Chiefs have a clean bill of health with all 53 players on the roster already proclaimed healthy to play on Sunday. That roster, specifically on offence, is scary.
“It almost looks like they got their roster from the Olympic relay team and threw them all on the football field,” 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said when describing the Chiefs’ offence.
Never before have we seen an offence with this amount of speed and a quarterback with this kind of arm talent paired with a play caller like Andy Reid. The Niners’ defence is great, but the New Orleans Saints put up 46 points on them. If the Chiefs do anything close to that number, they’ll win going away.
It seems like we are witnessing the beginning of the Mahomes era. Mahomes has eight TDs and zero interceptions in one of the best post-seasons we’ve ever seen. As we start a new decade, it seems only fitting that Mahomes will bookmark it by becoming the youngest player in NFL history to win the Super Bowl and MVP.
Craig Battle
The Pick: San Francisco 49ers The Score: 27–24 Super Bowl MVP: Jimmy Garoppolo
The Breakdown: No, I don’t feel confident about this. It’s just that no matter how many times I tried to type out “Kansas City,” I couldn’t quite do it. And yes, I know that Garoppolo has thrown for only 208 yards this post-season, but I have a feeling — “Ooh,” you say, “a feeling” — that’s going to change on Sunday. He threw for almost 4,000 yards on a 102 QB rating in the regular season, so we’re not talking Trent Dilfer or Rex Grossman here. Garoppolo can pass — he just hasn’t needed to during these playoffs.
Furthermore, Shanahan is a creative, inventive coach, and you know he’s going to have some new looks to throw at the Kansas City defence, creating room and opportunity for his QB to shine when the Chiefs adjust to make life hard on Mostert and the running game.
Finally, speaking of defences, the 49ers ranked second on Football Outsiders’ defensive efficiency rankings in 2019. Kansas City was way down the list at 14th.
What’s that old adage about defence and championships, again?
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins will bring in another quarterback while starter Tua Tagovailoa deals with his latest concussion, coach Mike McDaniel said Friday.
For now, Skylar Thompson will be considered the Dolphins’ starter while Tagovailoa is sidelined. Tagovailoa left Thursday night’s 31-10 loss to Buffalo in the third quarter with the third known concussion of his NFL career, all of them coming in the last 24 months.
“The team and the organization are very confident in Skylar,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel said the team has not made any decision about whether to place Tagovailoa on injured reserve. Tagovailoa was expected at the team facility on Friday to start the process of being evaluated in earnest.
“We just have to operate in the unknown and be prepared for every situation,” McDaniel said, noting that the only opinions that will matter to the team will be the ones from Tagovailoa and the medical staff.
McDaniel added that he doesn’t see Tagovailoa playing in Miami’s next game at Seattle on Sept. 22.
“I have no idea and I’m not going to all of a sudden start making decisions that I don’t even see myself involved in the most important parts of,” McDaniel added. “All I’m telling Tua is everyone is counting on you to be a dad and be a dad this weekend. And then we’ll move from there. There won’t be any talk about where we’re going in that regard … none of that will happen without doctors’ expertise and the actual player.”
Tagovailoa was 17 for 25 passing for 145 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions — one of which was returned for a Buffalo score — when he got hurt. Thompson completed eight of 14 passes for 80 yards.
Thompson said he feels “fully equipped” to run the Dolphins’ offense.
“What’s going to lie ahead, who knows, but man, I’m confident, though,” Thompson said after Thursday’s game. “I feel like I’m ready for whatever’s to come. I’m going to prepare and work hard and do everything I can to lead this team and do my job.”
