Swift’s relationship with Chiefs tight end and future Hall of Famer Travis Kelce has emerged as one of the unlikely but immovable storylines of the 2023 season, her celebrations in the stands becoming one of the most sought-after sights on Kansas City’s road back to the Super Bowl.
Beneath over-exhausted camera shots and unrelenting questions, Swift’s presence has been transformative in garnering an entirely new fanbase to the league.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell welcomed the ‘Taylor Swift effect’ such has been its impact in appealing to younger female audiences.
Who will be Fearless?
Fearless was Swift’s second album release and catapulted her to stardom with the smash hit Love Story. Who can bury the nerves to rise in the big moment and lead their side to footballing immortality?
Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy loom as your obvious candidates to play defining roles as the respective quarterbacks of their teams, but it is from within the Chiefs’ young receiving core that a hero could emerge after a season marred by dropped catches and heavy scrutiny.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling was on hand to provide a clutch third-and-nine catch that would ice his side’s win over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game. Mahomes has had to adopt a more patient approach to building and sustaining drives in the face of modern defenses, but when the opportunity to take a shot downfield emerges Valdes-Scantling tends to be a popular splash target. Will he be there to answer the call when it comes? As much might be said for Rashee Rice, whose rise as Mahomes’ most trusted wide receiver outside of Travis Kelce has heightened expectations and attention surrounding the rookie second-rounder.
For San Francisco, there may be no man under more pressure or burdened by expectation heading into Sunday’s Super Bowl than 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. He might be the NFL’s most innovative modern offensive mind, but has been accused of conservativeness in crucial moments during previous attempts to win a Championship. Here is his chance to lay down a masterplan without reservation.
Who will be the voice of the team and Speak Now?
The Super Bowl calls on the calmest voices, the inspiring words and football’s leaders, so whose words could play a starring role on the most daunting stage?
We are looking at the off-ball linebackers of the group. The 49ers are built on trench subterfuge, pulling guards and tight ends back-and-forth across the line of scrimmage in aid of propping up outside zone runs, simulating outside zone runs and disguising screens and end arounds designed to put the ball in the hands of their Deebo Samuels’ and Christian McCaffreys. Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton lies as a key to deciphering the 49ers offense as one of Steve Spagnuolo’s chief communicators when it comes to play diagnosis and ensuring team-mates know their assignments. Across from him, Fred Warner is similarly tasked with organising his troops against one of the NFL’s most gifted and shrewd screen designers in Andy Reid.
Under pressure: Make sure not to see Red
Who will handle and harness the pressure of the Super Bowl? Who will let the occasion get the better of them? It is where Championship games are won or lost.
Over to you, Brock Purdy. On paper, there should be little pressure on a man selected last at the 2022 NFL Draft who has since defied heavily-weighted odds to move within one win of Super Bowl glory. And yet as he pilots a talent-rich 49ers offense there remain hefty expectations resting on his shoulders to take an organisation in its Championship window over the line. He has been unflappable for much of his young, remarkable career, but is faced with the task of maintaining his poise in the face of a Steve Spagnuolo defense that will bombard him with coverage disguises as complex as any he will have encountered this season.
L’Jarius Sneed has been a starring face of the Chiefs’ standout defense all season, setting the tone with his aggression in coverage and at the line of scrimmage to the sight of defining success against the likes of Tyreek Hill. He plays tough, he plays with violent hands, he plays on the edge in aid of blunting the league’s most dangerous weapons – can he continue to channel that hard-hitting approach with the discipline that has served him so well in recent months?
Got a big Reputation: Who will make the difference?
The biggest names in the biggest moments in the biggest game of their lives. Who arises in Las Vegas to say ‘Look what you made me do’?
Christian McCaffrey has been the beating heart of this 49ers offense in 2023, rushing for 1,459 yards (first in the NFL) and 14 touchdowns alongside 67 catches for 564 yards and seven touchdowns through the air. He has propelled San Francisco to new heights since arriving in a trade from the Carolina Panthers last season, becoming a finalist for league MVP in the process. McCaffrey is the quintessential dual-threat running back to whom Shanahan will turn for clock control and wide zone success in aid of relaxing the pressure on his young quarterback. When the Detroit Lions threatened to pull away for good in the NFC Championship Game, McCaffrey was there to drag them back.
Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones has been known to thrive in high-stakes football and will lead the efforts to unnerve Purdy in the pocket, while 49ers pass rusher Nick Bosa will be relishing a match-up with Jawaan Taylor in his own bid to disrupt Mahomes.
Mahomes has been there, and won, twice. He can mould obscurity into artistry as the league’s most imaginative playmaker under center. He out-duelled an inspired Jalen Hurts in a shootout at the Super Bowl this time last year, and threatens to match that feat against his less-experienced counterpart.
