Jerry Rice knows a thing or two (or three) about winning Super Bowls. As a member of the San Francisco 49ers, Rice won all three Super Bowls he appeared in, with his only loss in the big game coming in 2003 as a member of the Oakland Raiders. Niners fans are justified to act like that appearance never happened, and Rice probably likely doesn't go out of his way to talk about that lopsided loss too much either. In interviews and when discussing the 49ers, Rice still refers to the team he spent sixteen seasons with as “we,” like he's still on the roster, and to be fair, the 61-year-old Rice looks like he can still go out there and make a couple of plays.

Today, on the sidelines at a Senior Bowl practice — while watching his son Brenden, a wide receiver from USC — Jerry Rice took some time to talk with Tom Pelissero about the Super Bowl 58 matchup between his San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. At the three-minute mark of the video below, Rice discusses what the 49ers need to do to make sure that Super Bowl 58 is not a repeat of Super Bowl 54… a 31-20 Chiefs win over the 49ers.

1. Get pressure on Patrick Mahomes

This is a task that is much easier said than done. In Kansas City's three postseason games so far this year, Mahomes has been sacked only twice, with both sacks coming last week against a Baltimore Ravens squad that led the league in sacks in the regular season. Mahomes is a magician in the pocket, able to navigate and scramble, or make impossible throws in the face of pressure. Additionally, the Chiefs have a solid offensive line — particularly in the interior — that has allowed the 2nd-fewest sacks in the league this year. The anticipated absence of All-Pro guard Joe Thuney, however, could be a big blow for Kansas City in this matchup.

Mahomes has played San Francisco three times in his career — twice in the regular season and once in Super Bowl 54 — and in those three games, the Niners have gotten to Mahomes only seven times. They had the most success in Super Bowl 54, when they sacked Mahomes four times, but in those three games, Mahomes and the Chiefs are a perfect 3-0 against San Francisco.

The blueprint for slowing down Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs offense was provided by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who sacked Mahomes only three times in Super Bowl 55, but generated 17 pressures and eight hits on Mahomes' 49 attempts in the 31-9 win. Much of that pressure was due to the blanketing coverage by the Bucs secondary, as Tampa rarely brought more than four pass rushers throughout the game. Can San Francisco's defensive backs hold up their end of the bargain, giving Nick Bosa, Javon Hargrave, and co. the time they need to get to Mahomes?

2. Double-team Travis Kelce… and Taylor Swift too

Giving the front four the time to get to Mahomes could come down to how effectively the Niners are able to take Travis Kelce out of the game. This is actually something that the 49ers did reasonably well in Super Bowl 54, limiting Kelce to only 6 receptions, 43 yards and a touchdown back in February 2020. Kelce is four years older now, and didn't consistently pop throughout the regular season like has in year's past, but he's coming off arguably his best performance of the season in the AFC Championship Game. As Jerry Rice noted, if the Niners can keep Travis Kelce in check, maybe CBS cameras won't cut in to Taylor Swift as often as is anticipated. All due respect to Jerry Rice, but I don't think the 49ers can realistically double-cover Swift, though.

3. Get off to a fast start 

This has been an issue in each of the 49ers two Playoff games this year, and while there was certainly something gained by exorcising those demons and proving they could come back from 2nd half deficits, this is a dangerous game that San Francisco can't afford to play against Kansas City. The 49ers trailed 21-14 going into the 4th quarter against Green Bay, and were down 24-7 at halftime in the NFC Championship Game against the Lions. Each time, though, the Niners made just enough plays on each side of the ball to secure comeback victories. The problem for San Francisco is that it's much more difficult to imagine Mahomes and company blowing a 2nd half lead. On top of that, the Chiefs defense has proven to be a much better unit than that of either the Green Bay Packers or Detroit Lions.

Jerry Rice surely won't be the last NFL legend to weigh in on the game. To nobody's surprise, Rice's official pick for Super Bowl 58 is a 28-21 49ers win.