3 reasons the San Francisco 49ers should be Super Bowl favorites

2. Nick Bosa vs. Jawaan Taylor is a mismatch

It’s been an interesting two-season stretch for 49ers’ defensive end Nick Bosa. In 2022, he led the league with 18.5 sacks, earned All-Pro honors and was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. However, the second-overall pick in 2019 draft failed to come up with a quarterback trap in three postseason outings.

In 2023, there was a preseason holdout. However, he got his new deal and played in every game this season. He led the Niners with 10.5 sacks, down considerably from a year ago. Bosa was second in the league in quarterback hits (35), but those numbers were down from a season ago as well when he led the entire NFL (48). Then again, after not getting sack against the Packers in the divisional round, he dropped Jared Goff twice in the NFC title game.

All told, the five-year pro has played in a total of 11 postseason contest and has gotten to opposing quarterbacks 10 times. He had four sacks during the team’s 2019 Super Bowl IV run and followed that up with 4 more sacks in the 2020 playoffs

Bosa promises to be a handful for Chiefs’ right tackle Jawaan Taylor. If he can force Patrick Mahomes into a couple of miscues, it could make life easier for a San Francisco offense in terms of field position.