Page 20 - Florida Sentinel 1-31-20

Sports
Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes
Is NFL’s Best Player
And His Time Is Now
A famous George Bernard Shaw quote applies to how Patrick Mahomes plays quar- terback:
“You see things, and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were, and I say, ‘Why not?’
All Super Bowl 2020 eyes will be on the swashbuckling young Mahomes.
He is either a symbol of Coach Darwin’s theory of evo- lution, or a quarterback monster built in some secret laboratory in Kansas City by Andy Reid and a team of mad football sci- entists.
There will be more than 40 million reasons per year why the Chiefs will have no choice but to make Mahomes the highest- paid player in the NFL over the offseason.
Reason No. 1 is this:
If I were starting an NFL franchise, I would start it with Mahomes.
Mahomes has shown early signs that he can figure things
PATRICK MAHOMES
outontheflyinawaythatthe young Cassius Clay/Muham- mad Ali could in a boxing ring, the way Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson could on a basketball court. Long, long way to go, of course, before he even dreams of joining those icons on their otherworldly pedestals.
If Not For Chip Kelly, Raheem Mostert Might Still Play For Philadelphia
But there is one thing that 49ers fans can thank Kelly for. The previous year, when Kelly was the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, he cut a rookie running back who tore up the preseason, averaging 90 yards from scrimmage per game. No RB on any other NFL team performed better.
That back was Raheem Mostert, who was last seen shredding Green Bay's defense for 220 yards in San Fran- cisco's 37-20 NFC Champi- onship Game win Sunday.
The Eagles decided they could keep four of their five running backs for the 2015 season. Three were Pro Bowlers — DeMarco Mur- ray, Ryan Matthews and Darren Sproles. That left
San Francisco 49ers running back Raheem Mostert cele- brates after the NFC Championship football game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020, in Santa Clara, Calif. The 49ers won 37-20.
Mostert and Kenjon Barner.
Barner was valued as a re- turner and for his pass-catch-
ing talent. And it probably did- n't hurt that he went to Ore- gon, where Kelly had achieved his greatest coaching success.
Can The 49ers' Defensive Front Stop Mahomes?
Last weekend, the only NFL action was the Pro Bowl. But this Sunday, the biggest game of the season will take place.
The San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs are set to face off in Super Bowl LIV on Feb. 2 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Both teams are mostly healthy and will be well-rested after a week off, so it should be exciting to watch them face off for the first time this season.
The 49ers' last Super Bowl win came in the 1994 season,
while the Chiefs haven't won since the 1969 campaign. With Super Bowl LIV getting closer, here's a look at all the important betting information and predic- tions for this year's matchup. Super Bowl LIV Predic- tions
Here's one prediction that should help you capitalize on several prop bets: There's going to be a lot of offense and there- fore plenty of points in Super Bowl LIV.
The Chiefs offense gets a lot
of attention because of quarter- back Patrick Mahomes, who won the NFL MVP in the 2018 season and is consistently one of the most fun players to watch in the league. He's thrown eight touchdowns this postseason while leading Kansas City to wins over the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans.
In the divisional round, the Chiefs scored 51 points, then they totaled 35 in the AFC Championship Game.
The 49ers offense may not be
The 49ers defense has picked up plenty of potential nick- names this year: "Hot Boyzz" or "Hot Boyzz University," "Gold Rush," "Gold Crush," "Sack Francisco" and so on. But one key defender is unim- pressed by the selection.
"I don't like none of them," de- fensive end Dee Ford said Tuesday in Miami.
With so much young talent at its nucleus, San Francisco's de- fensive line could earn a nick- name that Ford will hate—and opposing quarterbacks will dread hearing—for years to come.
The 49ers are poised to be-
as flashy and have as many es- tablished playmakers, but San Francisco had the better num- bers during the regular season, averaging 381.1 total yards per game.
Who better to come up with a game-deciding play than 49ers veteran cornerback Richard Sherman? He was a Super Bowl champion during his time with the Seattle Seahawks, and he continues to be one of the league's best defenders in his ninth NFL season.
come the first great defense of the NFL's second century.
But first things first. That de- fensive line must earn its nam- ing rights by leading the team to a victory over the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LIV on Sunday.
Plus, Sherman's playoff ex- perience is valuable to his young teammates, as 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan suggested, per 49ers Webzone:
Experts believe Sherman will come up with a huge play— perhaps a late interception—to lead San Francisco to victory, but the Sentinel is going with the Black quarterback superstar Patrick Mahomes to find a Doug Williams like perform- ance to pull this out. Chiefs 34- 49ers 31.
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