Some matchups are just better than others. No one would have wanted to see the banged-up Seahawks face off against the undermanned Patriots in Super Bowl LIV — unless you’re from New England or the Pacific Northwest. That game would have been boring. We’ve seen it before. It would lack explosive plays. Luckily we don’t have those matchups. Still, some games would be more fun than others and that’s where we come in. Let’s rank the possible Super Bowl LIV games.
San Francisco 49ers v. Kansas City Chiefs
Let’s get this one out of the way. This is the best matchup. It’s the NFC’s top seed versus the highest seed left in the AFC. It’s two young quarterbacks who will be fixtures on their teams going forward with Jimmy Garoppolo and Patrick Mahomes. It’s and older offensive genius coach with Andy Reid versus a younger offensive genius in Kyle Shanahan. The Niners have the defense that could give Mahomes trouble — or as much trouble as possible for the super-explosive offense. There’s a ton of recognizable names, and NFL Pro Bowl players involved as well. Please let this be the Super Bowl LIV matchup.
Some people would say the next game listed is the best matchup, but that’s just because of nostalgia and the storyline.
Green Bay Packers v. Kansas City Chiefs
Folks in the NFL marketing departments have to be salivating over this potential Super Bowl. First, it’s a repeat of Super Bowl I in the 100th year of the NFL. It sells itself. Nostalgia wins above all. Two teams with history as a nice little backdrop.
Then we would get Mahomes versus Rodgers. The old best quarterback in the league versus the new best quarterback in the league. Sorry for all those Aaron fans, but he’s getting up there and although he can still show flashes, he’s no Mahomes.
The problem with Chiefs v. Packers is that it could end up being a blowout. The Packers don’t have the horses to stay with the Chiefs. They’ve been winning ugly since the middle of the season. It would be a fun storyline and bad game.
Green Bay Packers v. Tennessee Titans
The Packers and Titans come in at three and that’s just because Packers and Titans will be a better game than the last possible matchup. We’d get Derrick Henry versus Aaron Jones — well not literally, but you get it. I can’t figure out if this would be a Matt LaFleur revenge game or Tennessee Titans revenge game since LaFleur left the Titans to become the Packers head coach.
There just isn’t a world where we can rate Ryan Tannehill as a fun quarterback matchup against anyone above Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl. That’s just how this works. It would be interesting to see the Titans ever-changing game plan take on the Packers.
San Francisco 49ers v. Tennessee Titans
This would be a bit of a defensive struggle. The Niners would try and run the ball against the Titans defense. The Titans would only try and run the ball against the Niners defense because the thought of that front four pressuring Tannehill is scary.
This would be a defensive struggle. That’s fine, but that’s not what anyone wants in the Super Bowl. It would have the worst of the quarterback matchups — especially if Kyle Shanahan takes the ball out of Jimmy Garoppolo’s hands. Derrick Henry targeting the edges of the Niners could be interesting though. Let’s see how the young guys handle a big back.
Also, the color scheme on the field would be dreadful. . . but that’s almost every Titans game.
