Chiefs, 49ers Heading to Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII

The Kansas City Chiefs are headed to Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII, with a chance to become the first team to win back-to-back NFL titles since the New England Patriots won Super Bowls in 2004 and ’05.

On Feb. 11, they’ll face the San Francisco 49ers in a rematch of the 2020 championship in Miami, in which the Chiefs overcame a 10-point deficit to win 31-20, their first Super Bowl victory in 50 years.

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This is Kansas City’s fourth Super Bowl appearance in the past five years after beating the Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. The Ravens were a 3.5-point favorite over the Chiefs.

For the Niners, the seven-point favorites who dug out of a 17-point halftime hole in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., to defeat the Detroit Lions, 34-31, there’s a sense of unfinished business. This time, the Niners are two-point underdogs.

“There’s been unfinished business for a while,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game. “Our team was set up for this for a long time. It’s been a long year to get to this point. It was hard at the beginning of the game, but we got it done today.”

The Chiefs—led by coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce—are as close to an NFL dynasty as there is in this era. The team has won three Super Bowls now; along with the 2020 Super Bowl in Miami, Kansas City won Super Bowl IV in 1970 against the Minnesota Vikings and last year’s 38-35 thriller over the Philadelphia Eagles.

To get back to the Super Bowl, Kansas City won on the road at Buffalo and Baltimore. Last week in an AFC Divisional Game win at Buffalo, Mahomes and Kelce connected on a pair of TD passes; they now have 17 overall, breaking a playoff record set by Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. This week, Kelce passed Jerry Rice for the most pass receptions in NFL playoff history, 156 in 21 games.

Kelce caught 11 passes from…


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Author : Sportico

Publish date : 2024-01-29 13:26:12

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