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ESPN Writer- Matt Bowen is a fantasy football and NFL writer for ESPN. He joined ESPN in 2015, writes regularly for ESPN+ and spent multiple years on "NFL Matchup." After graduating from the University of Iowa, Matt played safety in the NFL for St. Louis, Green Bay, Washington and Buffalo over seven seasons.
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ESPN Analytics- Seth Walder is an analytics writer at ESPN, specializing in quantitative analysis. He is also a regular on "ESPN Bet Live" and helps cover sports betting. Seth has been at ESPN since 2017. He previously worked at the New York Daily News covering the Jets and Giants. You can follow Seth on X via @SethWalder.
Super Bowl LVIII is here, with the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs facing off in Las Vegas on Sunday night (6:30 p.m. ET on CBS). We dug deep into the matchup from both statistical and game-planning standpoints to see where each team has an edge.
First, analytics writer Seth Walder pored through the numbers to find five trends and potential questions based on what the stats say. He leaned heavily on advanced numbers, including data from NFL Next Gen Stats and ESPN's video tracking. Then NFL analyst Matt Bowen ran through each team's tape to identify five tendencies and advantages, factoring in personnel matchups, scheme and coaching approaches. And finally, Seth and Matt put all of that to use and each made two predictions for the Super Bowl.
Can the 49ers beat the Chiefs' press coverage? Will Kansas City eat up San Francisco's zone coverage? Here are 10 trends and tendencies to watch heading into the final game of the 2023 season -- and what they might mean for the winner.
Note: All stats include both the regular season and playoffs unless otherwise stated.
Jump to:
What the stats say | What the tape says
Predictions for Super Bowl LVIII
Walder: Five key things I see in the numbers
Does the Chiefs' press coverage play into the 49ers' hands?
