The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday to win the AFC Championship and go to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years, where they will meet the San Francisco 49ers, who ended the Detroit Lions’ storybook postseason run.
The Lions seemed to be on their way to their first Super Bowl participation after taking a 24-7 halftime lead in the NFC championship game in San Francisco.
However, the 49ers needed only eight minutes in a spectacular third-quarter rally to overcome a 17-point lead and win 34-31.
Earlier in Baltimore, reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City scored all its points in the first half and then held off the Ravens 17-10.
The Chiefs head to the Feb. 11 Super Bowl in Las Vegas where they will bid to become the first team to hoist back-to-back Lombardi trophies since Tom Brady led the New England Patriots in 2004 and 2005.
The AFC Championship game was highlighted by a marquee matchup at quarterback between the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, the twice, and reigning, NFL Most Valuable Player, and the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, who claimed the honour in 2019 and is favoured to add another for his work this season.
Mahomes completed 30 passes for 241 yards and one touchdown, that to Travis Kelce in the first quarter that had pop star girlfriend Taylor Swift jumping up and down in jubilation in a private box at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium.
The first Super Bowl to be held in Las Vegas is already expected to be one of the splashiest ever but the buzz around America’s biggest football party is sure to be dialled up a few notches with Swift and her legion of fans known as ‘Swifties’ onboard.
