The perception, which is not unfounded, is that the Kansas City Chiefs had better come up with a big effort on defeat to win Super Bowl 54 on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. That is because they are going to have to deal with a very well-conceived running game, and they have shown weakness far too many times in that area.

So how do the Chiefs look on that side of the ball? We'll take an in-depth look at that. And remember that the game starts at 6:30 PM ET at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL.

BetAnySports has reduced juice, a TON of props, and Sports Betting Ultra, so you can watch the game on FOX and place real-time wagers. Here is their current line:

Kansas City Chiefs -1.5
San Francisco 49ers +1.5

Over 54 points -110
Under 54 points -110

Last season the Chiefs played a 3-4 defensive alignment. And that didn't work so well. The team ranked 31st in the league in Total Defense, and that served as a major impediment to their bid for the Super Bowl. Part of that, of course, involved their inability to curtail the ground games of their opponents.

Coordinator Bob Sutton was fired during the off-season, with Steve Spagnuolo, a proponent of a 4-3 scheme, brought aboard. It may have been awkward, but two of the Chiefs' mainstays on the stop unit - pass rusher Justin Houston and safety Eric Berry - were let go.

There were additions made, to be sure. Frank Clark, one of the very finest defensive ends in the game, was acquired from Seattle, and Tyrann Mathieu - better known as the "Honey Badger" - arrived to shore up the safety position, along with precocious rookie Juan Thornhill.

Nonetheless, this was a stop unit that had some obvious problems this season. For one thing, they were vulnerable against the run, giving up 4.8 yards a carry and ranking a dismal 31st when it came to "stuff rate," which, translated, means they didn't do a very good job at preventing opposing running backs from crossing the line of scrimmage.

Various factors contributed to an improvement in this area. From Week 11 forward, the Chiefs were 17th in run defense efficiency, compared to their #31 ranking prior to that. On the season, Kansas City ranked 25th in the NFL in yards allowed per drive, not 12th (much better) in POINTS allowed per drive, which indicates that either (a) they were of the "bend but not break" kind, or (b) they were able to do something in the way of forcing mistakes or stalled third down situations that killed opponents before they could finish.

And so perhaps a legitimate question to ask is whether the 49ers will find themselves susceptible to, in effect, stopping themselves, or whether they can make KC's allowance of points be more reflective of their allowance in terms of yardage.

Let's go back a couple of paragraphs. Please note that even during their best stretch of the season, the Chiefs did no better than 17th in the league (that is to say, in the lower half of the league) in run defense. And while many advocates of their cause point to their efforts against Derrick Henry in the AFC title game as evidence of a real resurgence on their defensive effort, the circumstances must be considered. Whet we're saying is that while Henry wound up with only 69 rushing yards, 62 of those were in the first half, before the Titans appeared to abandon the run entirely.

And they did THAT not because their rushing game was being stopped cold, but because they did such a poor job of tackling that they let Patrick Mahomes go off an a 27-yard TD run right before halftime. Tennessee, with its heart taken away, which went into more of a panic mode at that point and gave Henry only three attempts in the second half. In other words, that defensive effort - at least as it regarded the run - may have been a little misleading.

Kansas City's strength on defense is that they defend the pass well - in fact, they're fourth best against #1 receivers and second best against #2 receivers. And they are able to get pressure on passers. But the big challenge involves dealing with a team that runs the ball 52% of the time and is clearly going to try to shove the ball down their throats. If the Niners can succeed with the run game, it may prove successful against the frequent blitzes Spagnuolo likes to employ. And if San Francisco gets a lead (as they often do), they can exploit the fact that the Chiefs have allowed 5.5 yards per carry in second half play.

Out of the four main units (offense, defense), KC's defense has to be considered the most "deficient" on the field. And if they are going to be undone in this game, it's because of that.

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