Yesterday I told you why the 49ers will win on Sunday. Now it is the returning champs turn. Here are 10 reasons why the Chiefs will hoist the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday. 

1. Vegas, Baby!

The Chiefs have never lost in this stadium. Technically the 49ers haven’t either but they are just 1-0. The Chiefs are 4-0 and have never scored less than 31 points. If they score 31 points on Sunday, they will remain undefeated in Vegas.

2. Mahomes has never lost in a dome.

Mahomes is 11-0 in domes and has thrown for over 3,000 yards. There are lots of ridiculous stats around Mahomes and this one is no different. He looks to make it 12-0 on Sunday at a dome where he is 4-0 already. 

3. Playoff Travis Kelce

Kittle was the best tight end in the league but Playoff Travis Kelce is the greatest tight end ever. He has more catches than anyone in the history of the playoffs. He is just 3 touchdowns away from tying Jerry Rice for most td receptions ever. The guy is somehow always open. The 49ers tend to mostly play zone defense. Travis is very good at finding the holes in the zone.

4. They are the underdogs.

Mahomes and the Chiefs thrive as an underdog. He is 9-3 in his career as an underdog. First lets take a moment to appreciate the fact that in 6 years as a starter and 6 deep playoff runs he has only been an underdog 12 times. In the past 6 years they have played a whole other season of football. So in approximately 119 games, the Chiefs have been the underdogs 12 times. It gets better. He is 10-1-1 against the spread. He has only been the under dog at home once and on the road or neutral site, he is 10-0-1 against the spread. In the past 20 years, the Chiefs became the 9th team to win both a divisional round game and the championship game as underdogs. The previous 8 teams went 6-2 in the Super Bowl. And both the Bengals and Cardinals lost very close games in their Super Bowl losses. All this favors the Chiefs as 2.5 underdogs.

5. Lived long enough to become the villain. 

The Chiefs have all of the sudden become the villain. They win a lot. They supposedly get all the calls, although that is statistically inaccurate but who cares about stats. And people are annoyed by them being successful and being everywhere, commercials, AFC championship games, super bowls, etc. But the Chiefs have embraced the role. They relished playing the spoiler on the road in the playoffs. You could tell they were excited about the boos on Monday night. They love the us against the world mentality. Usually the villain loses. But this game will end Empire Strikes Back style. 

6. Brock Purdy forgets his fake ID and isn’t allowed to play in the game or get in the stadium.

I swear Purdy doesn’t look a day older than my 15 year old son. I know he has been picked on a lot by the media. Is he a game manager? Is he carried by his super stud teammates? Is he old enough to drive? All these questions will be answered Sunday when he faces a Spags led defense that has always thrived against young quarterbacks. That is assuming they let him in the stadium. 

7. Chiefs defense is elite, the second half defense is insane

The 49ers better not start slow like they did the last two games. The Chiefs second half defense has been dominant. They allowed zero points against the Dolphins, 7 points against the Bills and 3 points against the Ravens. And they were playing great defense in the second half for several weeks before that. If the Chiefs are winning at halftime, they are probably going to win the game.

8. No passes are thrown to Kadarius Toney

I doubt he is active for the game but if he is…for the love of all things can we not throw him the ball? He is a turnover machine because he simply cannot catch. Maybe hand off to him at the most. But preferably, lets just leave him off the field altogether. 

9. I’ll be wearing my Mahomes Jersey

I have always sort of laughed at grown men wearing the uniforms of other men and usually younger men at that. I will soon be 45 years old. I have a successful career, a college degree (although that took twice as long as most people), a happy marriage and two great kids. I don’t need to envy some 25 year old just because they can run a 4.4 40 yard dash or dunk a basketball. But last year around Christmas time, Danielle asked me what I wanted and I said, I kind of want a Mahomes jersey. She was surprised but my justification is that he may not actually be human. He is some sort of super being that defies all football logic. Anyway, I got the jersey. I only break it out for big games when I feel like the team needs me. Since rocking my Mahomes Jersey in the playoffs, We are 6-0 and Pat hasn’t thrown an interception. I am not saying me wearing the uniform of a 28 year old dude has anything to do with that. But I am not taking any chances.

10. Patrick Lavon Mahomes II

I could list gaudy stat after gaudy stat with him. I already listed a few above. I am a homer and I know it. But I also really do try to look at things subjectively, I mean I don’t work for Fox Sports so my opinions aren’t completely biased. I almost picked the Bills to beat the Chiefs in the divisional round. But then I thought, Pat is not going to lose his first road playoff game. Then I almost pulled the trigger on picking the Ravens to win. But then I thought who is more likely to play well in a game of this magnitude? Pat or Lamar? I landed on Pat. Now he goes up against the best roster in football. They have so many weapons and a solid qb who seems to play his best late in games. Their defense is star studded. But what they don’t have is Playoff Pat. That is not a knock on Purdy. He’s just not Pat. No one is. Pat is the best at doing things he has never done. He now has the chance to win back to back championships which he has not done. In fact no one has done it since 2003-2004. But last year he broke the MVP curse. So why can’t he break this drought? Also, no QB who was the biggest hit on their team’s salary cap hit has ever won the Super Bowl. Pat can be the first on Sunday. At the end of the day, you throw out the stats, the x’s and o’s and all football logic when Pat is on the field. 

Tune in tomorrow for my final thoughts and predictions for the game.