The poster is superb. As in 2020, the next Super Bowl – the final of the NFL American football championship – will pit the reigning champion, the Kansas City Chiefs, against the legendary franchise of the San Francisco 49ers, after magnificent conference finals played on Sunday January 28.
The Chiefs of star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, winners in 2023 against the Philadelphia Eagles, dominated the Ravens (17-10) in Baltimore (Maryland) in the final of the American Football Conference, at the end of a match perfectly controlled on defense .
“It’s been an eventful year, we were considered outsiders for the last matches, but, for our part, we never feel like outsiders”reacted Mahomes, 28, who passed a 30 out of 39, distributed a touch down and gained 241 yards, without being intercepted during the entire game. “We have a lot of guys on this team that know how to win in the playoffs. I knew we were going to do it, and here we are at the Super Bowl.”for the fourth time in five years, for two successes in 2020 − against the 49ers − and in 2023.
Receiver Travis Kelce − one touch down on the pass, eleven receptions out of eleven including a spectacular and decisive one at the end of the game − also largely contributed to the victory of the Chiefs. The imposing tight end was hugged for a long time on the pitch by his girlfriend, pop star Taylor Swift, after the match. And as in the United States, sport and entertainment are closely linked, NFL reporter Ian Rapoport announced that the singer would be present in Las Vegas, despite the four concerts planned in Tokyo on February 7, 8, 9 and 10 for his very popular and lucrative The Eras Tour.
In attack, runner Isiah Pacheco also did the job with a touch down scored and 68 yards gained in twenty-four carries. And then to complete this success, the Chiefs managed, thanks to an intractable defense, to muzzle the Baltimore quarterback, Lamar Jackson, tipped to be named best player of the regular season, which his team had dominated by winning thirteen games out of seventeen .
San Francisco miraculously
Facing the Chiefs, a miraculous San Francisco 49ers team will present themselves. The legendary Californian franchise, winner of five Super Bowls, won at home against the Detroit Lions at the end of a completely crazy NFC conference final.
Trailing by 17 points at the break (24-7), after a listless first period, the “Niners” caught up in the space of eight minutes in the third quarter. “We played as bad a first half as possible, but we were only down 17 points and there was still room for more points, California coach Kyle Shanahan said. Our defensive team was able to put them out of action in the second half, and the guy next to me made it happen. »
THE “guy next door” is none other than Brock Purdy, the young quarterback of the 49ers, who, at 24, is only playing his second professional season. The Lions may regret having wasted two attempts near the end zone that could have put them in safety, but they also gave in to the perseverance of Purdy, who reversed the trend by forcing his nature. Accustomed to distributing the game, the Californian number 13 did not hesitate to try his luck on the run, at key moments of the match, to advance his attack. He finished the game with 48 yards gained in five carries, as well as a touch down passing for 267 yards gleaned thanks to twenty completed passes out of thirty-one.
The McCaffrey bulldozer
After being questioned about his ability to come back, Brock Purdy responded in the best possible way by offering the 49ers two consecutive “comes back”. Last week, he had already been behind a victorious comeback in the last quarter to beat the Green Bay Packers to the wire. On Sunday, his audacity also allowed San Francisco to take the lead in the last quarter to finally win 34-31.
Newsletter
“Paris 2024”
“Le Monde” deciphers the news and the challenges of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Register
The Lions, who hoped to escape from the cursed club of franchises to have never played in the Super Bowl, will also regret not having succeeded in mastering the running back Christian McCaffrey, a real bulldozer on legs, who scored two touchdowns running and covered 90 yards in twenty attempts.
Last titled in 1994, San Francisco will try to win a sixth ring to join the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers at the top of the NFL. But the Super Bowl on February 11, which will be followed live on our site, promises to be extremely competitive. And attractive.