Deion Sanders picks Chiefs to win Super Bowl LVIII: 'You ain't gon' get me to pick against Travis Kelce'

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders joined the set of ESPN’s ‘First Take’ in Las Vegas ahead of the Super Bowl LVIII matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. And in typical radio row fashion Stephen A. Smith, Shannon Sharpe, and the crew made Coach Prime make his pick for Sunday’s game.

“You gotta understand, I love me some Travis Kelce now,” Sanders said. “You ain’t gon’ get me to pick against Travis Kelce, but I do like the 49ers. But I love me some Travis Kelce and Pat Mahomes.”

Sanders is rolling with Kansas City to repeat as Super Bowl champions based on his affinity for the team’s star tight end, whom Sanders named as one of three current NFL players he would like to coach in his career along with Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill and New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner.

Kelce may be Sanders’ favorite player in the game on Sunday, but when it comes to the biggest key of the Super Bowl, he believes it will come down to each team’s respective signal caller.

“Quarterback play. If I’m San Fran I’m trying to take Travis Kelce out of the game, I’m doubling him all game. Make these other guys beat me, and that philosophy the edge goes to San Fran because you cant take all those pieces that they have out. They have too many weapons offensively to do this,” Sanders explained.

“Defense plays a tremendous part, and both defenses have been lights out, but it’s gonna come down to quarterback play. Somebody’s gonna make a mistake or mistakes and that’s gonna be the difference.”

Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy are the two quarterbacks in question, with Mahomes seeking his third Super Bowl and game MVP of his career while Purdy looks to complete one of the greatest sports stories to date as the former last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft turned Super Bowl champion.

Sanders believes both passers can lead their teams to victory on football’s biggest stage, but that coaching may be the final piece and difference in deciding Sunday’s epic matchup.

“I trust both of them to do the job. It’s gonna come down to one of those guys gonna make a mistake, the offensive coordinator, the defensive coordinator. Somebody’s gonna make a mistake,” Sanders said. “I love both coaches, I’m invested in both coaches. You know I love me some Andy Reid, but when you talk about Kyle Shanahan come on man. Give the man his props.”

Both team’s coaches and quarterbacks will be all in on Sunday in Las Vegas, as the Chiefs and 49ers will square off at 6:30 p.m. ET in a Super Bowl matchup airing on CBS.