Super Bowl LVIII features a superstar-filled 49ers team going up against a Chiefs team looking to officially claim dynasty status.
Here’s how they got here.
The 49ers played two stretches of dominant football this season. During the first five weeks, San Francisco outscored its opponents, 167-68, before losing an uncharacteristic three straight in part because of several key injuries to members of the team.
During another stretch from Week 10 through 17, the Niners won all but one of their games by double digits.
During the preseason, the 49ers were heavy favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, but it hasn’t been easy. In both of their playoff games, the Niners faced second-half deficits.
Kyle Shanahan-coached teams had been famously bad before rallying to win both playoff games in January. Before this season’s playoffs, the Niners had been 0-30 when trailing by seven or more entering the fourth quarter (Packers game) and 0-19 when trailing by 17 or more in the second half (Lions game).
In their divisional-round matchup against the Packers, the Niners relied on a physical defense to slow down a Green Bay offense that was extremely hot, having just scored 48 against Dallas the week before.
The Niners limited the Packers to several field goals before ending the game by forcing the Pack to go interception, punt, missed field goal and interception on its final four drives.
Against the Lions, San Francisco was benefited by several drops on plays that would have been Detroit first downs and an interception. The missed interception turned into a 51-yard gain for Niners’ receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
While a lucky bounce into Aiyuk’s hands helped, the Niners also made some impressive plays, including forcing a Lions’ fumble to set up a short field and quarterback Brock Purdy evading a couple of would-be sacks to pick up some big first downs.
Regarding Kansas City, not a lot of analysts predicted the Chiefs to be in the Super Bowl in 2024 after a season of inconsistency on offense, specifically at the wide receiver position.
But they showed why you can’t ever count out the trio of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Andy Reed by claiming the franchise’s fourth AFC Championship in five years.
Against wild-card opponent Miami, the Chiefs dominated on both sides of the ball, with Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa struggling to throw the ball all night.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, moved the ball down up and down the field, finishing with 409 total yards.
Against rival Buffalo in the divisional round, it was a shootout for three quarters, with Josh Allen and the Bills’ methodical offense trading blows with the more explosive Chiefs’ passing attack.
In the fourth quarter, the Chiefs’ defense won the game by holding the Bills scoreless. There were several key Bills’ drops and a Tyler Bass missed field goal (wide right), a sight all too familiar to Buffalo fans.
The AFC Championship against top-seeded Baltimore was the ultimate test for the Chiefs. Unlike previous years, Mahomes and the offense didn’t win this one in a shootout.
The Kansas City offense was actually mediocre in this year’s AFC title game, scoring only 17 points and zero after the first half. This time it was the defense that bailed out KC, holding league MVP favorite Lamar Jackson and the Ravens’ offense to only 10 points on the day.
Now football fans are counting down the days to Super Bowl LVIII. Can the Chiefs shut down a loaded 49ers offense for four quarters? Will the 49ers defense finally put together a full game of dominance during this playoff run? Are we really about to see a quarterback who was picked last in the draft lift the Lombardi trophy?
With how evenly matched these teams are, we should be in for a classic.
