Nobody expected in October that the Super Bowl LIV will feature a matchup between Jimmy Garappolo’s San Francisco 49ers and reigning league MVP Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs. In fact, nobody even expected the former to make it past the regular season. But, after three months, San Francisco and Kansas City are both heading into Miami for a shot to reclaim the prestigious Vince Lombardi trophy at the biggest stage of the National Football League.
Chiefs ends Titans’ magical run, 35–24
Championship Sunday kicked off at Arrowhead Stadium as the second-seed Kansas City Chiefs welcomed sixth-seed Tennessee Titans for the chance to hoist the Lamar Hunt trophy and represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
The Titans entered the AFC Championship game as the heavy underdogs albeit recording two straight impressive wins against the New England Patriots and the heavily-favored Baltimore Ravens. Head coach Mike Vrabel seemed to have injected a bit of his winning experience into his team as they were able to reach the Conference Championship as the sixth seed — the first time it happened since the Green Bay Packers went on to win the Super Bowl in 2010 — while eliminating Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and this year’s most likely MVP Lamar Jackson in the process.
But on Monday morning (Manila time), Andy Reid and his ever-accurate, ever-dangerous gun-slinging quarterback Patrick Mahomes ended the Titans’ hope by defeating them 35–24 en route to its first ever Super Bowl appearance after 50 years. Reid and his best buddy and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo did a very good job keeping Derrick Henry in check for most of the game as the league leader in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns this season was held for only 69 yards on 19 carries.
After finding themselves down by 10 points on two different occasions, Mahomes took over in time to reignite their offense just like how he always had, such as in their last week’s 24–0 comeback against the Houston Texans during the Divisional Round. The reigning MVP completed 23 of his 35 passing attempts for 294 yards and three touchdowns. Yet, while those are normal Mahomes numbers, he also added 56 yards on the ground to lead the Kansas City back into the grandest stage of football since the city last won its first and only Vince Lombardi trophy in 1969 when it defeated the Minnesota Vikings.
Reid, who is also having his own personal return trip to the Super Bowl since the 2004–2005 season when his Philadelphia Eagles lost to the New England Patriots, was fired up after the win. “So much effort we put into this. It takes an army, it is not one guy at all. I appreciate the effort by everybody,” he said while becoming one of the rare coaches to lead both an NFC and AFC team into the Super Bowl. He joined the Chiefs in 2013 after 14 years in Philadelphia.
49ers dominates Packers, 37–20
When these teams met in Week 12 in November for their regular season matchup, the San Francisco 49ers completely outclassed the Green Bay Packers, 37–8, to hand the latter its third loss of the season. Fast forward in January, the results were pretty much the same as San Francisco scored masterfully dominated Green Bay from start to finish, 37–20, to take home the George Halas title and bag their seventh Super Bowl appearance.
Jimmy Garappolo only needed eight passing attempts for the whole game — he even didn’t need to pass for about an hour and a half in real time (22 game time minutes)— as the Packers’ defense had no answer against Raheem Mostert’s career showing who broke (and set) a lot of records in prime time. The undrafted running back, who was once cut by six NFL teams, single-handedly outscored Green Bay by rushing for a grand total of 220 yards and 4 touchdowns. By the end of the third quarter, he already broke the 49ers’ postseason rushing record and in the end became the first running back in history to rush for 200+ yards and 4+ touchdowns in a playoff game.
Mostert’s record-breaking performance came at the back of an excellent offensive line who managed to create big holes for him and the entire San Francisco offense that amassed a total of 285 rushing yards, the sixth most in a playoff game in the Super Bowl era.
On the defensive end, San Francisco was also as flawless as ever. The 49ers’ defensive front, led by rookie Nick Bosa, managed to sack Aaron Rodgers three times while their secondary unit was even better with two interceptions, including Richard Sherman’s game-sealing takeaway. While the Packers’ offense scored more than it did months ago, 49ers’ league-leading defense, however, showed its might early on the game as it completely shut down Green Bay in the first half that pretty much already decided the outcome, 27–0.
“You know, honestly, I just woke up like it was any other game. It was one of those things where hey, once we all get in a groove, we’re just going to keep it riding, keep it going and that’s what we did,” Mostert said after the game.
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