Back when Mike Rafferty started this tradition (back in 2012 if you’re keeping score), he used to come up with clever puns for each of the predictions. I’ve tried to do this over the years, but 1. I’m not as clever as Raff and B. Even if I were that clever, this piece has grown so much that I can’t imagine trying to come up with that many different puns. This may be the longest story to ever run in Webb Weekly.
So, you may find a pun or two roaming the backfield, but in the meantime, we’re going to set the goalposts and get right to the predictions.
So…Are you Faithful to the Bay? Or are you rooting for the Red Kingdom?
Let’s kick-off right here in the office.
Charlie keeps it simple; he’s calling the 9ers, 34-28. In an equally simple fashion, Wes is taking it down the field the other way with a 21-14 Chiefs win.
Curt also has the Chiefs taking it, but he’s bumping up the score a bit, 28-17.
Jaimie thinks it’s going to be the Chiefs over the 49ers. She tried to keep the score classified but finally decided it would be 30-21.
Next up, my lovely writing staff.
Scott Lowery never seems to think his opinions are worth much. Not sure why since he knows more about sports than just about anyone I’ve ever met, but he did send over his thoughts. “Super Bowl wannabes like Dallas and Buffalo take note — the Chiefs and 49ers know how to win the big games. The Chiefs are playing in their sixth SB game. Including four of the last five, not to forget they appeared in the very first Super Bowl in 1967. The 49ers are making their eighth appearance, winning five times. The rematch of the 2019 game won by the Chiefs is one many football fans weren’t expecting. The 49ers are a slight betting favorite and could win the game, but as talented as they are, its Patrick Mahomes they are playing. Mahomes has been sensational in the playoffs in his six years in the league, compiling a 14-3 record, a 67% completion rate, 4,802 yards, 39 TDs in directing five game-winning drives, and four fourth-quarter comebacks. In the barnyard of NFL QBs, Mahomes is the GOAT. Chiefs win 31-17.”
Speaking of writers that know sports — Lou Hunsinger is up next. “Because of Pat Mahomes’s experience in the big game I believe that gives the edge in the Super Bowl and I see a 28-23 win by Kansas City, but San Francisco proves they can score.”
Pastor Tim Hartzell was praying for a totally different game. “I would have been much more excited to watch the Lions and Ravens. My prediction is Kansas City 21 and San Francisco 17. Caution: My Webb Weekly prediction has never been right. Go Steelers!”
Bernadette isn’t a huge sports fan, plus she lives in a Pittsburg house. Her hubby is both a Steelers and Pirates fan, but she did have some thoughts on the game, “I predict that Taylor Swift WILL make the Super Bowl from her Tokyo concert the night before. It WILL be tight leaving her concert, driving to the airport, and boarding a private jet bound for Las Vegas, but it’s possible. Borrowing some math, Kevin O’Leary, the president and CEO of Jet Advisors, a Massachusetts-based aircraft acquisition, brokerage, and research firm, with a departure time around 11:30 Saturday night local time and a 10-12 hour flight will land her in Vegas between 4:30-6:30 p.m. the same Saturday night thanks to the time change.
We got Larry Stout out of Commissioners’ meetings long enough to offer this, “This year’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, is sort of like Coke vs. Pepsi or chocolate vs. vanilla. It is really hard to pick between them. The Chiefs are the reigning champions, but the 49ers seem to have more momentum. Both have shown flaws through the season, but they also have good skill players in the most important places. I’ll flip a coin and go with the 49ers — no, wait, make it the Chiefs — or maybe I was right the first time. OK, I’ll admit, I have no idea. Since the 49ers are a two-point favorite, I’ll go the other way — KC 28, SF 24.
Jamie Spencer didn’t give me as much as I expected. I suppose he was too busy fishing. But he is taking the 49ers in a close one — 35-30.
Now, I don’t like to get political, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t let some local dignitaries cast their votes.
Williamsport Mayor Derek Slaughter thinks the 49ers are going to pick up the W. “34-31 Niners. Both teams are playing well and peaking at the right time. I think it will be an offensive battle with Brock Purdy and the 49ers slightly pulling away at the end for the win.”
On the county side, we have newly elected Commissioner Mark Mussina, “KC 27-24. I know this Chiefs team isn’t as explosive as they have been in recent years, but it’s hard to pick against a healthy Mahomes. And, if the game comes down to a field goal, I like Kansas City’s kicker better than San Francisco’s.
It’s always good to see our commissioners on the same page — our other rookie Commissioner Marc Sortman is also picking KC for the win. “31-28 KC, because they are predicting 49ers and that will motivate KC to victory.”
PA State Rep Joe Hamm is swinging toward KC, “Kansas City 27, San Francisco 21. Christian McCaffery will have a huge game for the 49ers, but Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce will be too much, and the Chiefs win another Super Bowl.”
Speaking of State Reps — out of the 83rd, Jamie Flick added, “Two incredible teams, both with MVP caliber quarterbacks. Brock Purdy is under center and is the lowest draft quarterback to ever start a Super Bowl. So calm and collected under pressure, I think he delivers a game-winning drive for the 49ers.”
No one likes when the taxman cometh, but if you’ve met South Williamsport Tax Collector Dottie White, you know it’s hard not to like the taxwoman! She’s taking the 9ers to win. “Score, 27-25. Cause Purdy has a purdy good chance to win! That’s ‘pretty’ with a southern drawl.”
I think it would be a fumble if I didn’t get some thoughts from the local sports scene.
Tom Gravish, head coach of the Jersey Shore Bulldogs, knows a thing or two about making it to the big game. “KC Chiefs 31, SF 49ers 27. Patrick Mahomes is the difference.”
You know who else knows football? Lycoming College football head coach and Athletic Director Mike Clark. “I think the Chiefs will win the Super Bowl 31-21. The Chiefs’ defense was great last week — better than I thought it was. The 49ers offense is better than the Ravens but I don’t think they’ll out score the Chiefs. The Lions also had great success against the Niners’ defense, and I think the Chiefs are better than the Lions on offense.”
Loyalsock coach Justin Van Fleet reminds us of the Taylor Swift connection to our area. “I’ll take the Kansas City Chiefs as they represent Loyalsock by proxy. Taylor Swift’s father is a proud 1970 grad of the Township. 72-8 KC as long as Taylor performs at graduation (Football fundraiser for ticket sales).”
No Battle of the Bridge to be had on this front, as Coach Hanna from Montoursville is also taking Kansas City. “24-17 Chiefs, I’m not betting against Mahomes and the Chiefs’ defense is playing at an elite level.”
From the gridiron to the hardwood, Ron ‘CI’ Insinger kept it short and sweet, “Kansas City 27, San Francisco 18.”
Gabe Sinicropi may be known for baseball, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know football too. He thinks the Red Kingdom has got this one in the bag. “27-21 Chiefs. Two good teams and two good quarterbacks, but Mahomes has been on fire in the postseason and will be again on Sunday.”
From up on the hill at Williamsport High School, Millionaire’s head coach, Mike Pearson, foresees a KC win. “The Chiefs are hitting their stride when the money is on the table.”
Not a lot of 49ers love on the field; Tom O’Malley, former MLB player and Loyalsock softball coach, is also a Chiefs fan. “I am going with Kansas City, 27-21. Kansas City is playing at a high level right now! They have the experience of winning last year and being in the Super Bowl 4 out of the last 5 years! Andy Reid is an excellent coach! Patrick Mahomes is always the X-factor!”
From up on a more different hill (one under construction and on the South Side), Chris Eiswerth, coming off an incredible season himself, is seeing a 49ers win on Sunday. “27-24, 49ers! The Niners gotta stop the run. Great defense wins the game!”
To you, he may be a former South Williamsport football coach or one of the voices for Webb Weekly Live. To me, he’ll always be the guy who regularly got me out of Chemistry to teach me how to drive. Rich Zalonis is also taking the Chiefs. “Kansas City 28, SF 17; I think the Chiefs have the best QB in the game, and Mahomes will be the difference.”
Speaking of Webb Weekly Live, it would be weird for me to mention Rich and not Paul Bo since they are the peanut butter and jelly of play calling. Paul is sticking with Rich for a KC win (24-17), but he believes we will get a heck of a surprise when Taylor Swift catches the winning TD.
Out of Muncy, head coach Sean Tetreault is taking the 9ers for the win. “49ers win 27-24; I believe they win because they are showing their mental toughness the last two weeks in coming from behind to win. Also, with their D-line depth they can hopefully stay fresh and give KCs OL trouble. With the multiple weapons on Offense, Kyle Shannan can spread the field and use motion to have favorable matchups.”
Gary Chrisman is coming out of left with his prediction. And yes, I know that’s the wrong sport, but take the puns where you can get them. “34-31 San Francisco. Big game for Brock Purdy and Christian McCafferty.”
Webb Weekly wouldn’t get very far each week without our amazing advertisers, so of course, we polled them also.
Kyle Hetner from Steinbacher, Goodall & Yurchak, always has one of my favorite predictions of the year. “I picked against them last year, so if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em — MaHOMES, MaAUTO (aka Kelce), and all the Swifties will shake off the 49ers’ secondary — Chiefs 34, 49ers 17. As a bonus pick for ya: Andy Reid celebrates the dub with a big tray of “nuggies” and Taylor Swift is shown at least 13x from opening kickoff through the postgame.” See? He even writes his own puns!
Blaise Alexander is backing KC. “I believe NFL wants nothing more than for Taylor Swift to hoist the Lombardi trophy the night of the Super Bowl game. Therefore, I predict Kansas City to win this game. The NFL will pull all stops to make sure that happens. So plainly put, I see Kansas City with a better squad of receivers, and a more mature quarterback, taking nothing away from Purdy. He’s a dynamite player. Pacheco is going to have his game of the year, and Kelsey will shine. And a little known fact, Brett Veach, the general manager for Kansas city, is a graduate of my alma mater, Mt. Carmel High School. So Kansas city wins 28,21.
Like father, like son, Aubrey Alexander thinks the Chiefs are going to Blaise to victory. “I like the Chiefs, mostly because I think Andy Reid is The Man, very well respected, and doesn’t get too excited, and my brother Adam played against his general manager back in high school — Brett Veach, from Mount Carmel High School. I think that’s pretty awesome a local guy making it to the big leagues, I think final score will be 24-21, Chiefs.”
FastMaz has a fast prediction, “KC 28, 49ers-17. Mahomes and Kelce are the dynamic duo.”
Sometimes you need a little help with your prediction, and Robin Tebbs from Tebbs Farm and Greenhouse knew just who to call, “I had to consult with my grandson, Brecken. His prediction is Chiefs-28, 49ers-31. He likes the player on the 49ers that graduated from Penn State who turned his life around and now is in the Super Bowl and he hopes he wins!”
Frank Morrone from out at Pier 87 is going 24-23 Frisco. “This is a tough one, both teams are extremely talented in skill positions. Experience obviously is on the Chiefs’ side. Even though, at this time, the Chiefs are the underdog, I look at SF as the dog here. Don’t be surprised to see that line move and have the Chiefs favored by kickoff. I always root for the dog, plus my sister is a big Niners fan.”
Nothing goes better with a Super Bowl than pizza, and no one knows pizza better than Scott Robinson from Park Pizza. “San Fran 24, KC 21. Tight game throughout. Lots of scoring in first half both; defenses tighten up second half. Kansas City drives late in the game for the win, but San Fran seals it with a turnover.”
Travis Ward from Thompson’s Outdoor Power Equipment thinks Mahomes will generate. “31-27 Kansas City. Mahomes will be the difference in this one.”
Can being lucky in love make you lucky on the field? Tracey Underdown from Medical Weight Loss thinks it may. “I pick the Chiefs over the Niners, 31-27! Mahomes is the best, and Kelce is in love.”
Rob Glunk from Journey Bank thinks the 49ers will bankrupt the Chiefs. “I’m thinking the team in red will win it. Although I’m a Rams fan, I’m going to take the 49ers 31-28. It will be the McCaffrey Show.”
Like a Mustang, Brian Peace from Murray Motors thinks the Chiefs have too much horsepower in their passing game and that they will pick up the win 33-27.
Steve Kaiser Sr. thinks the Chiefs are going to Dodge a loss. “I think 28-24, Chiefs!” Mahomes is on a roll and has been there before.”
Jim Plankenhorn took some time from his good work at STEP to offer up his opinion. “While most everyone growing up were Steeler fans, I had to be different. I picked the Chiefs as my team back in about 1975. They were bad for a looooong time. Anyhow, Chiefs 27, San Fran 24.”
Rick Quigley from Fairfield thinks KC has got this. “Kansas City 31-24. Mahomes is hard to beat. Purdy is good, but Mahomes always finds a way to score at the last minute.”
However, his son Fletcher disagrees. “28-24, 49ers. The Niners have had one of the best offenses in terms of talent, and it’s a revenge game from 2019. I think they take it. Kansas City has scraped by too long and have let opponents stay in the game. Not a strong enough defense to overcome, and the Chiefs’ offense doesn’t seem to be quite as powerful as years past.”
Hopefully, this doesn’t make family dinner awkward.
Speaking of dinner. Mike Rupert from Rupert’s Specialty Meats was too busy cutting custom steaks to go into detail, but he thinks KC is going to put a hurting on SF, 42-28.
Ken DiRocco from Impact Advertising always has great Super Bowl insights. “Well, this year’s Super Bowl has finally devolved from an actual sporting event to what is now an outright entertainment venue. There is an entire theory floating around the sport’s world about how the Chiefs were aided by referees’ lack of calls or their questionable calls during the Chief’s playoff games. It is believed that this was done each game in order to advance the Chiefs and their Taylor Swift/Travis Kelsey Show.
“When you realize that the Super Bowl will provide the biggest audience for a television event this year and the most revenue for CBS from paid advertisers, it seems plausible. I have no doubt that the advertising rate for each 30 second spot will increase due to the anticipated increase or viewership by the “Swifties” out there who will be tuning in just to see the singer!
“Apparently, the NFL has already received the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars of free publicity due to the constant focus on that relationship and the non-stop coverage of it.
“But, from a purely sports point of view, the San Francisco 49ers are the better TEAM both offensively and defensively. Both the 49ers and Chiefs had poor games during the regular season, and both had dominate games during the regular season.
“Observation: I think 49ers are the better team and should win IF they play to their potential. But the Chiefs have been there and won the Super Bowl before and that is a big confidence factor! Also remember that the 49ers were in Super Bowl 54 against the Chiefs and lost 31-20. It’s true they were a different team offensively, but Steve Spagnola, the Chiefs Defensive Coordinator, schemes well for opposing teams. Prediction: I would like the 49ers to win, but I wouldn’t bet on it.”
In a rare occurrence, all the Webb Boys are all in the same place at the same time, and all share the same opinion about Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Jimmy is excited for this year’s game, “Wow! What a great Super Bowl matchup. I don’t know how I feel about Las Vegas hosting a Super Bowl, but that’s a story for another day. Kansas City 42, Niners 24. Andy Reid has them playing their best football of the season and caps it off with their best game. Patrick Mahomes, who is only 28 years old, wants to be the next Tom Brady. The Chiefs have weapons everywhere including on defense.”
JW3 also thinks the Chiefs are coming out with another ring. “Chiefs 34-27, because I don’t go against Mahomes.”
The Eagles may be home to roost, but we still have some brotherly love. Hunter agrees with his big bro. “It’s tough to bet against the Chiefs.” He’s calling a closer score of 31-28.
Family, friends, and strangers from around the web also weighed in.
Miss Linda, my next-door neighbor when I was growing up in Georgia, thinks that KC will win.
My sister, who also lives in Georgia, thinks Kansas City will take it by a touchdown, 28-21. It’s been a tough year to be a fan of any team coming out of the Peach State this year, so hopefully, she’s right.
Matt Godfrey also thinks the Chiefs will win by TD, but 27-20.
Kristine Conklin has six reasons why she thinks the Chiefs are winning this year’s Super Bowl. 1. Andy Reid. 2. Patrick “Magic” Mahomes. 3. Travis Kelce. 4. Defense — Steve Spagnuolo & Chris Jones. 5. Offense — Matt Nagy, Isaiah Pacheco, MVS & Harrison Butker. 6. Tech N9ne’s pump up jam “Red Kingdom.” Give it a listen. How ‘bout those Chiiiieeeeffffssss!!!!!!” Ya know, I don’t Kristine, but I feel like she has solid point. Can’t argue with that Tech N9ne shout out either.
I may not know Kristine, but I do know Josh and Tricia. If you know Josh and Tricia Van Campen, you know that they are die-hard Eagle fans, so this year’s Super Bowl is more than a little disappointing for them. When first asked for a prediction, Josh sent me something that can’t be printed in a family-oriented paper. He was nice enough to follow up, though, “It’s going to be a defensive battle until 4th quarter. Chiefs score ten unanswered points in the last quarter. 27-21.”
Tricia added, “Clearly, we aren’t looking forward to it. I don’t have any score predictions, but I think it’ll be close, and the Chiefs will win. I’d like to see Andy Reid get another one.”
My friend Sarah lives with a Lions fan, so she’s also not overly interested in the Super Bowl this year. She is, however, super invested in the Puppy Bowl. Same, girl, same.
As for me and mine?
Steve isn’t much of a sports fan — unless people are punching each other, so he’s taking Swamp Thing for the win.
After I told Kiddo who was playing in the Super Bowl, he was pretty adamant it’s going to be, “KANSAS CITY ALL THE WAY!”
And finally, the one you’ve all been waiting for…me! I’m kidding; my opinion doesn’t amount to a hill of beans.
I wouldn’t call myself a huge football fan. I know just enough to follow a game and not make a fool of myself.
However, I somehow ended up as a 49ers fan way back when Joe Montana was throwing to Jerry Rice. So, naturally, I’m looking for a 9ers win.
That being said, I am HERE for Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift.
I don’t understand how people can have so much trash to talk about two people who seem to be happy and newly in love. Like, are y’all OK? Who hurt you?
Haters gonna hate (hate, hate, hate, hate), but I think they are adorable. And I would love to see the love after a KC win. I’d also love to see Jason (maybe with a shirt this time) and Travis postgame. That leaves me — conflicted.
And before any of y’all come for me with the whole, “We don’t need to see her on the screen ALL THE TIME,” nonsense, here’s a little football stat for you, via sportingnews.com.
The AFC Championship game was 3 hours and 9 minutes long. Total Taylor screentime was 44 seconds, or 0.39% of the game. That’s 99.61% of Taylor-free football for you. Oh, and 17 of those 44 seconds were in a promo for the Grammy awards, in which she’s nominated six times. So really, your football was only interrupted by her for 27 seconds.
However the game plays out, I’m sure it will be fun. Plus, what better excuse to eat a ton of food, and spend time with friends and family.
Just be careful. No drinking and driving and keep in mind — you aren’t as young as you used to be, and you probably have to go to work on Monday.
