NFL playoffs: 3 lessons SF 49ers can learn from Chiefs, Buccaneers
By Peter Panacy
The SF 49ers hopefully paid close attention to how both the Chiefs and the Buccaneers ended up in Super Bowl 55.
Super Bowl 55 will be somewhat of a familiar watch for SF 49ers fans as well as fans of the other 31 teams across the league.
The Niners need no reminders the team that beat them almost a year ago in Super Bowl 54, the Kansas City Chiefs, are right back in the big dance after upending the Buffalo Bills in decisive fashion by a score of 38-24 in the AFC Championship game. The general consensus was, at least for that conference, the Bills would be perhaps the only squad capable of defeating Kansas City.
So much for that.
Meanwhile, quarterback Tom Brady is back in the Super Bowl for an unprecedented 10th time, this time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after they pulled off the road NFC Championship win over the Green Bay Packers, 31-26.
Coming off a 6-10 season in 2020, San Francisco took a step back away from it’s Super Bowl chances this upcoming season, but head coach Kyle Shanahan’s squad is still in the top third of oddsmakers’ predictions to win the Super Bowl a little over a year from now. That’s not terrible, but Shanahan and Co. still have some vital lessons to learn before securing the team’s sixth Lombardi Trophy.
Some of those lessons were clearly on display during both conference championship games over the weekend. Both the Chiefs and Bucs took advantage of mistakes made by both Buffalo and Green Bay, respectively, and the SF 49ers would be wise to apply those lessons for their playoff prospects moving forward.