Homo sapiens had several survival advantages over Neanderthals, but one of the most significant was their advanced language skills. This ability likely facilitated better social organization, cooperation, and sharing of knowledge, which would have been critical for planning, hunting, and gathering, as well as passing down information about survival strategies.
While the ability to make fire was also important for both species, there is evidence that Neanderthals were capable of making and using fire as well. Greater height and weight and physical strength varied among individuals and were not universally advantageous in the same way that complex language and social structures were.