Championship Sunday (January 28) of the 2023/24 National Football League (NFL) season was everything one could hope for in six hours of gridiron action (unless one was rooting for a team that lost).The Kansas City Chiefs came up with their second-straight upset road victory and put to bed a very impressive season for the Baltimore Ravens, while the San Francisco 49ers concocted a historic second-half comeback against the Detroit Lions to book their ticket to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on February 11.

Kansas City, after reaching their sixth-straight American Football Conference (AFC) Championship, is headed to their sixth Super Bowl — fourth in the past five seasons — and will defend their Super Bowl title after beating Baltimore 17-10 last Sunday afternoon. Chiefs quarterback (QB) Patrick Mahomes was effective and efficient (30 of 39 pass attempts for 241 yards and a touchdown), completing his first 11 pass attempts and, unlike the scourge of dropped passes that plagued them all season (leading the league in dropped passes with 44), the receivers were sure handed. Tight end Travis Kelce, who dropped seven targets this season, was 11 for 11 in the game for 116 yards.

However, the Kansas City defence was largely responsible for the win, containing their opponents to only 10 points and QB Lamar Jackson, Baltimore’s leading rusher, to only 54 rushing yards. Before last Sunday, the Ravens had never trailed by more than seven points in any game this season, but they went into the half-time break with a seemingly surmountable 7-17 deficit that proved too much in the end.

Arguably, the contest was decided on two key plays at the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth, both involving Ravens receiver Zay Flowers (five catches for 115 yards and a touchdown) and Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed. Flowers got the better of Sneed near the end of the third with a 54-yard reception but squandered his team’s momentum due to a 15-yard taunting penalty after standing over a prone Sneed and proceeding to spin the ball beside him.

Then, on the same drive, at the start of the fourth quarter, Sneed punched the ball loose as Flowers dived for the end zone, resulting in a touchback and possession for the Chiefs. The Ravens managed a field goal in the final stanza, but a Deon Bush interception on Baltimore’s final drive shut the door on any hopes for a Baltimore Super Bowl appearance.

For the 49ers, who are back in the Super Bowl for the second time in five seasons, their game required a little bit of everything and an epic, memorable third quarter to get them over the hump against the Detroit Lions last Sunday evening. San Francisco started their league-best 19th National Football Conference (NFC) championship game on the back foot, in the blink of an eye finding themselves staring down the barrel of a 0-14 first-quarter deficit and entered the half-time break trailing 7-24.

However, it was a tale of two halves as the 49ers erased the 17-point shortfall in a game-changing third quarter, scoring 17 points and holding the Lions scoreless. The key play coming on a 51-yard Brock Purdy throw to receiver Brandon Aiyukthat, on any other Sunday would have been intercepted, but instead became the play that turned the game around. There was 6:29 left on the third-quarter clock, and the Lions led the 49ers 24-10.

Just prior, San Francisco had stopped Detroit on a fourth-and-two from the 49ers’ 28-yard line, but they still needed a couple of big plays if they were to cash in on the turnover. The aforementioned pass bounced up in the air off a defender, and Aiyuk acrobatically dove and caught it at Detroit’s four-yard line. San Francisco scored a touchdown three plays later, fittingly, Purdy to Aiyuk.

The 17-point half-time deficit was down to seven and, on the very first play following the ensuing kick-off, Detroit running back Jahmyr Gibbs fumbled, and the ball was recovered by the San Francisco defence. The 49ers found the end zone to draw level and never looked back, coming away with a 34-31 win.

The Lions fell one game short of their first-ever trip to the Super Bowl, but the 49ers will be making their eighth appearance and have the chance to win their first title since 1994. And it sets up a rematch of Super Bowl LIV (2019), where Patrick Mahomes got the better of Jimmy Garoppolo, 31-20, thanks to a 21-point fourth quarter from Kansas City (scoring three touchdowns in the final 6:13). The major differences this time around are the QB on the other side of the field and the arsenal of offensive weapons at his disposal.

Historically, for the 49ers, they have advanced to seven Super Bowls since 2011 without a win, and it has been 29 seasons since they were last crowned champions, last winning Super Bowl XXIX in 1995 with QB Steve Young. This will be their eighth Super Bowl appearance, which ties the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboys, and Denver Broncos for the second-most by any franchise. A win would place them in a tie with the Steelers and Patriots for the most Super Bowl victories by a franchise (six).

The Chiefs are looking to become the first repeat Super Bowl champions since the 2003/04 New England Patriots and now can cement the dynasty they have built over the last five seasons. Mahomes will make his fourth Super Bowl start — the most all-time for a QB before age 30 — in a venue (Allegiant Stadium) where he is 4-0, with 10 touchdowns and just one interception, while Head Coach Andy Reid is preparing for his fifth Super Bowl, trailing only Bill Belichick (nine) and Don Shula (six) in appearances.

Regarding coaches, San Francisco Head Coach Kyle Shanahan has a great opportunity to exorcise some personal demons. He has been integral in two of the biggest collapses in Super Bowl history, one as the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons and the other as 49ers head coach. He was with the Falcons when they notoriously blew a 28-3 lead and lost to the New England Patriots in 2017, and he coached the 49ers when the Chiefs erased the aforementioned 20-10 fourth-quarter deficit, to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy in 2019. This could be Shanahan’s first Super Bowl ring, or it could be the continuation of some very bad mojo.

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