For NFL fans, mid-February is a bittersweet time. It marks the end of the NFL season until September, a whole seven months away. However, February holds the most legendary sports contest since the first Olympic games. A meeting between the two remaining teams in the NFL after a brutal playoff. It is a television spectacle that is only rivaled by the Apollo 11 Moon Landing in its viewership.
The Super Bowl.
The Super Bowl has a long and celebrated history. This year is the fifty-eighth matchup, and it will prove to be one of the most important. In it, the defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, will take on the San Francisco 49ers. If this matchup seems familiar, it’s because these two teams played in Super Bowl LIV, four years ago, where the Chiefs took home their first Vince Lombardi Trophy since 1970 in a decisive 31-20 victory over the Niners.
Both teams had to overcome incredible odds to make it here. In the NFL Playoffs, the two halves of the NFL, the NFC (the National Football Conference mainly made up of teams in the Great Lakes and the South) and AFC (the American Football Conference whose teams are in the Northeast), are placed into a playoff until one team from each remains. Those teams will go on to play in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs had to play three games, against the Miami Dolphins, the Buffalo Bills, and the Baltimore Ravens. All these teams were incredibly tough opponents. The Ravens, their final opponent before making it to the Super Bowl, were especially terrifying. The Ravens had been an unstoppable force in the NFL for the whole season and were favored over the Chiefs. Lamar Jackson, the Ravens’ quarterback, even went on to be the MVP out of all the players in the NFL this season. Yet, the Chiefs pulled a surprise victory by taking advantage of several small mistakes. Patrick Mahomes, the celebrated quarterback of the Chiefs, led the team to a 17-10 victory.
Meanwhile, in the NFC, the Niners had a much more difficult start. The team had the best record in the NFC regular season, so they were allowed to skip the first round of playoffs. Their following games were against the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions. In the first game, the Packers nearly had them beaten, but the Niners’ quarterback, Brock Purdy, kept them in the game. A missed field goal by the Packers allowed the Niners to take control and win 24-21. The next game was against the Lions, who were up 24-10 at halftime. However, once again, the Niners rallied to beat them by three points, advancing to the Super Bowl.
Both of these teams have had celebrated Super Bowl careers. The Niners have won a total of 38 playoff games in their history, and a grand total of five victories in the Super Bowl. Their last win, however, was in 1994. The Chiefs, on the other hand, have now been to the Super Bowl six times. Four of these appearances have been in the last five years. The team has three victories to their name.
This year, the Super Bowl is taking place in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium. It starts this Sunday, February 11th, at 4:30 PM. Ticket prices are extraordinary, with most of the seats near the field going for around $40,000. The average price per ticket is only around $9000. The broadcast will be found on ABC and CBS, though, if you don’t feel like paying that much.
For football fans, this has been an interesting year. From the total collapse of the Philadelphia Eagles to the sudden rise of the Green Bay Packers. From the despairing defeat of the Detroit Lions to the unexpected perseverance of the Houston Texans. There have been countless surprises and tragedies. This season has been one for the history books, and the Super Bowl will be its epic final chapter.
Image Acquired From NFL.com
The Bishop Kelly Newspaper 