Super Bowl 2024: MVP Favorites and Predictions for 49ers vs. Chiefs

When the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers lock horns in Super Bowl LVIII, the two sides will feature myriad MVP candidates.

Sure, history says this award will likely land with one of these quarterbacks—Patrick Mahomes (already a two-time winner) or Brock Purdy—but that's not always the case. In the past 10 Super Bowls, quarterbacks claimed the biggest individual prize six times, but the other four were secured by a pair of receivers (Cooper Kupp and Julian Edelman) and a pair of linebackers (Von Miller and Malcolm Smith).

Push back even further, and you'll find running backs, defensive backs, defensive linemen and even a special teams star (kick-returner Desmond Howard) among the honorees.

Anyone who takes the Allegiant Stadium field technically has a chance to be named MVP, but unless you just have money to burn, you shouldn't bother betting on most of their chances. To give you some guidance on the wagering front, we'll lay out all of the players with the best odds of winning the reward before examining a sleeper and identifying our predicted winner.

Patrick Mahomes +125

Brock Purdy +225

Christian McCaffrey +475

Travis Kelce +1200

Deebo Samuel +2000

Isiah Pacheco +2800

Rashee Rice +5000

Brandon Aiyuk +6000

George Kittle +6000

Nick Bosa +7500

George Karlaftis +10000

Chris Jones +10000

Fred Warner +12000

L'Jarius Sneed +15000

Willie Gay +16000

Mike Edwards +20000

Chase Young +20000

Sam Darnold +20000

Dre Greenlaw +20000

Trent McDuffie +20000

Charvarius Ward +20000

*Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Mahomes may not have posted enormous numbers (by his standards) this season, but he has shown in these playoffs how hard it is to get him off track. He has yet to throw an interception this postseason and was sacked only twice in his three outings to this point. In his last two games, his completion percentage landed north of 70.

What does all of this have to do with Bosa's MVP chances? Well, fair or not, we've come to expect magic from Mahomes. So, if he doesn't look like himself, award-voters may want to attribute that to someone.

Bosa seems as likely as anyone to knock Mahomes off of his game. Over his past three seasons, Bosa has tallied 44.5 sacks and eight forced fumbles. His sack numbers were down a bit this season (10.5), but he still ranked among the league leaders in pressures and was the second-highest graded defensive end by Pro Football Focus.

If offense is hard to come by—and it could be against defenses as talented as these two—award-voters could reasonably conclude a defender impacted the game more than anyone. Bosa, who had two sacks and four quarterback hits in the NFC Championship, easily has a chance to be that player given his game-breaking ability to disrupt opposing offenses.

With all due respect to Purdy and Mahomes, you could make a convincing argument that Christian McCaffrey is the safest choice to post a strong stat line.

His quiet games have been nearly non-existent during his season-plus stay in San Francisco. The 49ers lean on him heavily as both a ball-carrier and a pass-catcher—as they should—and he almost always makes the most of his chances.

Between the regular season and the playoffs, he's cleared 100 scrimmage yards in 14 of his 18 outings this year. He's also had at least one touchdown in all but three of them. He had multiple scores seven different times and averaged 140 scrimmage yards in those contests.

He has an intriguing matchup here, too, as the Chiefs weren't great against the run this season. The Chiefs were 18th in rushing yards allowed and tied for 24th in rushing yards per carry.

The 49ers could task McCaffrey with a massive workload. Beyond simply taking advantage of one of their top playmakers, that's also their best bet for exploiting Kansas City's biggest question mark on defense. Plus, if McCaffrey really gets rolling on the ground, San Francisco can chew up clock and keep Mahomes and Co. on the sideline.

This is only McCaffrey's third playoff run of his career and his first venture to the Super Bowl. He has a real chance to make it one to remember.

Gambling problem? Call (877-8-HOPENY) or text HOPENY (467369).

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visiting ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), visiting OPGR.org (OR), or calling/texting TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) or 1-888-532-3500 (VA).

Odds and lines subject to change. 21+ (18+ NH/WY). AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/NH/NJ/NY/OR/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for full terms and conditions.