Photo Courtesy of ESPN.
By Max Ferguson, Staff Writer
The contenders for Super Bowl LVIII have been set. The San Francisco 49ers will face off against the Kansas City Chiefs. This game is a rematch of Super Bowl LIV in 2020, when the Chiefs beat the 49ers 31-20. The Niners are looking to turn the tides in their favor when the two teams battle it out at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, home of the Raiders. Looking ahead to the big game, it’s worth examining how these teams topped the seemingly insurmountable hurdle that is winning a conference championship.
AFC Championship
The Chiefs punched their ticket to the Super Bowl in a low-scoring, defensive battle against the Ravens in Baltimore. This game was expected to be an offensive shootout; however, the final score turned out to be 17-10. The Ravens showed early signs of unease on the first drive when they were forced to punt, which led to a Chiefs’ touchdown on their first offensive push in this game. Baltimore answered back with a touchdown of their own immediately after. Following that, Kansas City cashed in another touchdown to take a 14-7 lead in the first quarter.
The game remained scoreless until the end of the second half when Harrison Butker put the Chiefs up 17-7 with a field goal. The next score came with a late 4th quarter field goal by Justin Tucker to make the final score 17-10. For a championship game, this was entirely unimpressive. Lamar Jackson, who has been in serious consideration for Most Valuable Player this season, has had a lackluster playoff record. Moreover, the Ravens as a whole were not consistent throughout the season, and Zay Flowers and Odell Beckham Jr. were not as dominant as they usually are. However, it is worth questioning Lamar’s position as a postseason leader. He got the huge contract he wanted, an offensive coordinator with a playbook designed around him, as well as a top-tier defense—so why can’t they succeed? Lamar will need to prove himself again at the same time next year when he hopefully finds himself in the same spot.
NFC Championship
The 49ers mounted a huge comeback in the second half at home to get themselves to the big game. The Detroit Lions dominated early on. They racked up 24 points at halftime to lead by 17 going into the tunnel. However, the Lions’ defense fell apart in between halves. Dan Campbell’s play calling in the second half was questionable at best. Several 4th down gambles gave San Francisco a prime scoring position, even though punting could have given the Lions’ defense breathing room to work with so they could get stops and maintain their lead. If anything, it seemed that the Lions detected a Niners second-half push and made impulsive play calls. When confronted with a seventeen-point lead, it fell on the defense to make the stops they needed to. Whether San Francisco figured out the Detroit playbook or the defense simply got complacent, the Lions fumbled what was arguably a guaranteed win for them. However, this was not to say the Lions’ season was a failure. Keep in mind that in Dan Campbell’s first years with Detroit, the team only had single-digit season wins. Expect Dan Campbell to make some personnel changes to his defense this offseason.
Both the 49ers and Chiefs are going to be exciting teams to watch in this rematch. Catch the Super Bowl on Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m. EST.
