The Super Bowl is the biggest annual day on the American sports calendar. A game under a microscope from society at-large with a legendary halftime musical act and a 30-second commercial costing $7 million. It’s bonkers and perfectly normal at the same time.
On the field, the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs will play in the NFL’s biggest game for the second time in four years.
The 49ers are one of the NFL’s most prestigious teams but have not won a championship since the 1994 season.
Kansas City is in its fourth Super Bowl in the last five seasons, hoping to win its third title during the evolving dynasty.
And of course, CBS will show Taylor Swift every time it makes sense. Where will the Super Bowl be won and lost in Las Vegas? Here, DailyMail.com breaks it down…
Purdy is the less-accomplished quarterback entering Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday in Las Vegas
Mahomes will look to win his third Super Bowl in his NFL career, with an eye toward Canton
The quarterbacks: Patrick Mahomes vs Brock Purdy
One is hoping to go from Mr. Irrelevant to Super Bowl champion in less than two years. The other believes a win will help cement his legacy as one of the best quarterbacks of all-time.
Purdy was the last selection of the 2022 NFL Draft. He complicated the 49ers quarterback situation with Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo. Then Purdy made general manager John Lynch’s decision incredibly easy with his stellar play.
Patrick Mahomes has been one of the NFL’s best overall players since 2018 and already has two Super Bowls, including in Super Bowl LIV over San Francisco.
Purdy no doubt has more offensive talent around him, but has never played in a game of this magnitude.
Mahomes has been here before, but may have the weakest supporting cast in Kansas City, outside of Travis Kelce and Isiah Pacheco, that has ever appeared with him in a Super Bowl.
No matter how ready Purdy is to disappoint Swift, it is hard to ever bet against Mahomes in these kinds of games.
McCaffrey will play in his first Super Bowl after an NFL career as the sports’ best running back
Pacheco was selected 11 picks in the 2022 NFL Draft before Purdy and will start for the Chiefs
Running backs: Christian McCaffrey vs Isiah Pacheco
This will be one of the sneakier matchups at Super Bowl LVIII as you cannot automatically give the edge to McCaffrey.
Wait, the best running back in the NFL against the guy drafted 11 spots ahead of Purdy?
In ability on paper, McCaffrey wins hands down, but it is not that simple for this specific matchup.
Pacheco has been on this stage before, while McCaffrey will play in his first Super Bowl is what could be a Hall of Fame career.
McCaffrey’s presence alone with the rest of the 49ers offensive weapons is enough to sway it in his direction, but not by as large a margin as one may think.
The world is talking about Kelce, yet he’s played in three Super Bowls before Sunday’s contest
Kittle is one of the NFL’s best tight ends and gets nowhere near the attention Kelce receives
Tight ends: Travis Kelce vs George Kittle
For the Swifties reading this story, wondering if Taylor’s boyfriend is actually good at football: yes. One million times, yes. He is Hall of Fame good and likely the best tight end in football today. And Kittle is not too far behind.
Kelce has an other-worldly connection to Mahomes, while Kittle is on the rise but has not established a partnership with Purdy that compares. To be fair, not many duos in NFL history are as in sync as Mahomes and Kelce.
While off-field distractions and a ‘down’ year for Kelce have been talking points, Kelce has been phenomenal in the Chiefs last two games and consistently shows up in the biggest moments.
If Kelce does not score at least one touchdown against the 49ers, it will be a shock. Kittle is not as automatic to reach the end zone.
Advantage to the guy Swift was referring to with the adlib: ‘Karma is the guy on the Chiefs’.
Swift has wrapped up her Japanese leg of ‘The Eras Tour’ and is likely en route to Las Vegas
Swift has attended 12 prior Chiefs games this year, including all three Kansas City playoff wins
Taylor Swift vs. everyone?
Usher will not be the most famous musician at Super Bowl LVIII. There is no way Swift is not in attendance, even with her shows in Tokyo.
The ‘Anti-Hero’ singer will be shown during the game, which will infuriate some and make those fans she brought to the broadcast happy. Others will not care because she is on screen for incredibly small doses.
Her relationship with Kelce has been the prominent plot point of the NFL season, only in the same stratosphere as the impending divorce between the Patriots and Bill Belichick.
Her presence at the game likely will not effect Kelce. No other member of the crowd, even as plenty of other celebrities will be in attendance, will come close to how much Swift is shown.
The Chiefs are making their fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years, starting in 2020
Best of the rest
Even with the Chiefs improvements over the last few seasons on defense, the 49ers have a better one.
Offensively, it is hard not to see how San Francisco is better balanced than Kansas City.
The crux of where this game will be won and lost is how all those pieces come together on Sunday against a team that has had the same shell since 2018, never being eliminated before overtime of the AFC Championship.
So many bright lights have been spotlighting the Chiefs for years. If the 49ers can handle the same pressure, they will win. If not, the Chiefs dynasty adds another Lombardi Trophy.