The San Francisco 49ers face off with the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 54. To get there, the 49ers had to win two other playoff games first.
They did so, and pretty handily too. In fact, they won both games by 17 points each, beating the Minnesota Vikings 27-10 and the Green Bay Packers 37-20.
Despite the high scoring (64 points in two games), the 49ers have not been throwing the ball much. Just 27 times to be exact.
The 49ers enter Super Bowl LIV having attempted just 27 passes so far this postseason.
If they throw 25 or fewer times against the Chiefs, they’ll finish in the top 5 in terms of fewest pass attempts by a Super Bowl team in a single postseason. pic.twitter.com/uUHUDPFCZj
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 30, 2020
Not much earlier, Chiefs' defensive end Chris Jones talked about how the game plan is to stop the rushing attack of the 49ers. That means the game would be on the shoulders of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
You could argue that was disrespectful, but really, he has a point. Clearly the 49ers have a game plan to run. They are in no hurry to pass. And that makes it almost seem as if they don't really trust Garoppolo enough either.
So if San Francisco doesn't want to throw, why wouldn't the game plan be to make them throw.
27 times in two games is incredible. There are quarterbacks in the NFL that if they threw it “only” 27 times in a game fans would think something was wrong.
So far, the game plan has worked for the 49ers. It may be unorthodox in today's NFL, but you can't argue with what's working.
The question is, how much longer will it work? If the Chiefs throw them off their game plan and they have to throw, can they succeed?
Either way, it's hard to see Garoppolo tossing the ball 25 times after throwing it just 27 times in the first two playoff games. So the 49ers might be on that list of fewest passing attempts by a Super Bowl team in a single postseason by the end of the game.
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