For the fourth time in the last five years, the Kansas City Chiefs are headed to the Super Bowl. After ending their 50-year-old drought back in the 2019 – 2020 season, Kansas City has quickly vaulted into historic ranks. They will be playing for the franchise’s fourth Super Bowl ring which would break the tie held with both the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders. On the other side, however, are the storied San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers are looking for their 6th Super Bowl which would bring them tied atop the NFL mountain with the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Super Bowl this year falls on Sunday, February 12th, 2024, and will be played in Las Vegas, Nevada at 5:30 central time. This will be the 58th Super Bowl and the first to take place in the betting capital of the world. While both teams were huge favorites at the beginning of the year, their respective roads to the Super Bowl were quite different.

Chiefs 

The Chiefs started this year like any other in the Patrick Mahomes era, as Super Bowl contenders and favorites. As reigning champions, the target on your back is as big as it will get and it showed this year. The 6 regular season losses are the most in a regular season from the Chiefs since 2017, before Patrick Mahomes was the starting quarterback. This season was an emotional rollercoaster, starting with a loss in Arrowhead to the Detroit Lions. Following the loss the Chiefs won 6 straight and it was back to business as usual before an embarrassing 9-24 loss to the Denver Broncos. Traveling to Germany the Chiefs bounced back defeating the Miami Dolphins bringing their record to 7-2 heading into their week 10 bye week. What happened next was uncharted territory for the Chiefs as they lost four of their final eight games to finish the season 11-6. For the first time under the Patrick Mahomes lead chiefs, they would not hold home-field advantage for either the divisional or championship rounds of the playoffs. Having secured the 3rd seed in the AFC, the Chiefs’ only home game of the playoffs was a reunion in Kansas City with the Dolphins and former Chief, Tyreek Hill. The Chiefs dominated on both sides despite temperatures reaching well below 0, winning the game 26-7. The highly anticipated rematch of the thrilling week 14 game with the Buffalo Bills came following their wildcard victory. The Bills won the regular season matchup and did so in Kansas City, the rematch however would take place in Buffalo. The Chiefs would come into Buffalo as underdogs and trailed at the half by 3 points. The defense would stand their ground and only allow 7 points in the second half and a scoreless 4th quarter to propel the Chiefs to a 27-24 victory, and their 6th straight AFC championship game! With one team standing in their way, the Chiefs booked their tickets to Baltimore and looked ahead to their first AFC championship game away from Arrowhead against the Ravens. Once again the Chiefs looked like the better team and jumped straight into a 17-7 halftime lead and held the ball for just over 20 minutes in the first half. The 17 points were all the defense needed to hold out for the win against NFL MVP front-runner Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. The Chiefs would win the game 17-10 and punch their ticket to the Super Bowl once again and chase for the title of NFL dynasty further.

49ers

The 49ers had a very different path to their franchise’s 8th Super Bowl. Following last year’s NFC championship loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the 49ers were hungry for redemption. After an offseason of rehab, the 49er’s quarterback and Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy, was hungry to show the world that he belongs on the field as the quarterback of the 49ers. Starting the season perfectly is just what the 49ers did winning their first 5 games including a 42-10 rout of the Dallas Cowboys. However, this is football and injuries are inevitable as star wide Receiver Deebo Samuel injured his shoulder in week 6 against the Cleveland Browns in what would be the 49er’s first loss. Deebo would go on to miss the next two weeks in what would also be losses for the 49ers against the Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals. After a week 9 bye week to get healthy, the 49ers would figure things out and win their next 6 games setting up an epic Christmas Day matchup against the AFC-leading Baltimore Ravens. The 49ers would be dominated by the Ravens, losing the game 19-33. Brock Purdy struggled throwing 4 interceptions in what would be his worst game of the year. The 49ers however would win their next game against the Washington Commanders which would secure the Number 1 seed in the NFC and clinch home-field advantage for the playoffs. Finishing the season 12-5 set the 49ers up with a Wild Card round bye and a divisional-round matchup with the Green Bay Packers. After entering the fourth quarter down 14-21, the 49ers defense stood their ground and held the Packers scoreless in the fourth. Christian McCaffery scored the game-winning touchdown in the fourth and sent the 49ers to the NFC championship. As the Chiefs sat watching following their victory, the 49ers quickly found themselves in a world of hurt as the Detroit Lions took a quick and early 14-0 lead. The 49ers got on the board with a Christian McCaffery touchdown but still went into halftime with a staggering 24-7 deficit. The second half would be dominated by the 49ers however. The offense finally started clicking, and a turnover deep in Lions territory set the 49ers to tie the game up before the fourth quarter started. Both offenses scored touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but the 49ers would take the victory after they stopped the Lions on fourth down as they gambled and lost on it. A final score of 34-31 would be all San Francisco needed to book their ticket to Las Vegas and the Super Bowl.

The Chiefs will look to join an elite group of 7 franchises, of which San Francisco is one, to win back-to-back Super Bowls. The Super Bowl this year will air on CBS, but an inaugural kids cast of the game will air on Nickelodeon as well. For those who are just going to watch for the halftime entertainment, get excited for the talented Usher who will be performing this year. The game will be interesting and a great finish to the football year!