The Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday set up a Super Bowl rematch after battling through to the NFL championship showpiece on a dramatic day of playoff action.
The reigning champion Chiefs returned to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years after upsetting the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in Maryland to clinch the American Football Conference Championship crown.
Meanwhile, the 49ers advanced to a repeat of their 2020 Super Bowl defeat to the Chiefs after staging a stunning second-half fightback to sink the Detroit Lions 34-31.
Photo: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY
The Lions — one of only four teams who have never played in a Super Bowl — looked poised to end that jinx after storming into a 24-7 halftime lead before a shocked 49ers home crowd in Santa Clara, California.
However, San Francisco rattled off 27 second half points at Levi’s Stadium to clinch the National Football Conference Championship and punch their ticket to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas on Feb. 11.
Detroit were left ruing their risky second half decisions to pass up two kickable field goals in the second half in favor of fourth down conversions attempts that failed.
Photo: AFP
On both occasions, San Francisco regained possession and marched upfield to score decisive touchdowns.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said his team had been determined to turn things around after being mauled by Detroit in the first half.
“We didn’t want to go out like that,” Shanahan said. “That would have been a real rough way to end it if we couldn’t play better with our group. I’m so proud of the guys. They didn’t really care about anything except finding a way to win. You could see it on their faces. You could see it at halftime. You could see it in that third quarter. You could see it all the way to the end of the game.”
In Baltimore, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson — the presumptive NFL Most Valuable Player — was stifled by Kansas City’s swarming defense, while Chiefs counterpart Patrick Mahomes marshaled his team brilliantly to lead them back to the Super Bowl once more.
“It’s been a heck of a year, we’ve been underdogs for the last few games, but we never feel like underdogs,” said Mahomes, who threw one touchdown and 241 yards with no interceptions.
The Chiefs now face the 49ers in a repeat of their 2020 Super Bowl meeting in Miami in which Mahomes led a late rally to secure a 31-20 victory.
Another Kansas City veteran of that Super Bowl victory — tight end Travis Kelce — had 11 receptions for 116 yards, which included the Chiefs opening touchdown, to surpass the legendary Jerry Rice in the record books for most all-time post-season catches.
Pop icon Taylor Swift gave Kelce a short peck and embraced him on the field after the game.
Her romance with Kelce, which became one of the prominent stories this season, was front and center throughout the game.
Before accepting the Lamar Hunt Trophy for the fourth time in five years, coach Andy Reid, standing on stage, found Swift in the crowd and pointed at her. Swift pointed back.
Additional reporting by AP
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