KC Wolf
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- Mar 19, 2019
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It’s fitting the Super Bowl LIV will be played in Miami. The quarterbacks of the two teams that qualified for the game currently are playing like a pair of Dolphins Hall of Fame quarterbacks once did.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is, obviously, Dan Marino. Like Marino, Mahomes is facing the 49ers in the Super Bowl to cap his second season as a starter. Marino lost to San Francisco, and he never made it back to another Super Bowl.
But Mahomes is even more dangerous than Marino, all due respect to one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Although none have matched Marino’s rocket-fast release, Mahomes’ ability to throw with velocity and accuracy from any body position, platform, and arm angle creates the same effect: The ball is out before anyone even realizes it.
49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is Bob Griese, who won a pair of Super Bowls without breaking a sweat (and while at times wearing glasses). In Super Bowl VII, he threw 11 passes. In Super Bowl VIII, Griese threw only seven times. (He threw five times in the 1972 AFC title game, and six the next year.)
Garoppolo had 19 throws in the divisional round win over the Vikings, a game that included a stretch of 16 straight running plays. On Sunday, Garoppolo attempted only eight passes.
The clash of styles will make for an even more compelling Super Bowl. 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan keeps doing what works, even if it means running the ball over and over and over (and over) again. The Chiefs are the opposite, with Mahomes fueling the offense via his arm — and by leading the Chiefs in rushing in each of the Chiefs’ two postseason wins.