The San Francisco 49ers came back 17 points this Sunday to beat the Detroit Lions 34-31 in the National Conference (NFC) final and advanced to the superbowl in which they will clash with the champions Kansas City Chiefs.
With this victory, the 49ers, who had lost the NFC title games consecutively in the last two years, will play in Super Bowl LVIII against the Chiefs on February 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Gambusinos recovered from a nightmare first half in which they lost 7-24 with a dream second half in which they scored 27 points led by Brock Purdy, who added 267 yards and a touchdown pass. Christian McCaffrey also shined with 90 yards rushing and two scores on the ground.
Coach Dan Campbell's team exploded in the first quarter with its running attack that overwhelmed the San Francisco defense. In their opening series they drilled thanks to a reversible deception play in which Jameson Williams escaped 42 yards to the end zone to take an 0-7 lead and they extended 0-14 after traveling 62 yards in 11 plays that culminated with a run for David Montgomery's center to the diagonals.
The Gambusinos reacted at the beginning of the second period driven by Christian McCaffrey, who carried the offense until he broke the plane of the end zone to get within 7-14. The Lions defense maintained suffocating pressure on Brock Purdy and caused an interception by Malcolm Rodriguez, a success that the offense took advantage of to add seven more points thanks to Jahmyr Gibbs' ground touchdown that took them away 7-21.
The Lions' offensive work remained in roller mode in the last drive of the second quarter that sent the game to halftime 7-24 thanks to a field goal by Michael Badgley. In the third quarter, San Francisco began the comeback with a field goal and a touchdown reception by Brandon Aiyuk that made the score 17-24. The reaction continued thanks to a fumble caused by their defense that Arik Armstead recovered, an action that the attack converted into a 24-24 tie with McCaffrey's second touchdown on the ground.
The 49ers managed to turn the score around 27-24 with a 33-yard field goal by Jake Moody at the start of the fourth quarter and extended the lead to 34-24 with a touchdown run by Elijah Mitchell. In response, Detroit tightened the game 34-31 by sending in Jameson Williams with 56 seconds left. On the onside kick, San Francisco took the ball and sealed its place in the NFL title match. Results of the finals of the American Conference and the National Conference of the NFL.
Chiefs knock down Baltimore
The Kansas City Chiefs Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce won 17-10 on Sunday at the Baltimore Ravens' court and qualified for their fourth Super Bowl in the last five seasons.
The current champions of the American Football League (NFL) will face the San Francisco 49ers or the Detroit Lions, who faced each other on Sunday in the National Conference final. Encouraged again from the stands by the singer Taylor SwiftKelce's partner, the Chiefs were far superior to the Ravens in the American Conference final thanks to a strong defense and the leadership of Mahomes, who beat Lamar Jackson in a duel of MVP award-winning quartebacks.
Baltimore, the best team in the regular season, appeared in front of its audience as the theoretical favorite to qualify for its first Super Bowl since the championship they won in the 2012 campaign. Jackson, who will probably win his second MVP this year, finished with 272 yards and a passing touchdown but was limited to 54 rushing yards, insufficient numbers compared to Mahomes, who dominated the pace of the game and recorded 241 yards and a passing touchdown without interceptions. In the Super Bowl on February 11 in Las Vegas (Nevada) the Chiefs will try to be the first franchise to retain the title since Tom Brady's New England Patriots did so between the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
“God put a lot of adversity in our path this year and we accepted the challenge,” Mahomes said of an irregular course in which Kansas City finished third in its conference in the regular season.
“We have not been favorites in the last games but we never feel inferior. We have many guys on this team who know how to win,” he stressed. “Now we're in the Super Bowl and the job isn't done.”
At 28 years old, Mahomes is set to win his third ring and continue in the race of Tom Brady's records, who retired in 2023 with seven trophies in his cabinet. Jackson, on the other hand, acknowledged that he was “pissed off” after experiencing another disappointment in the playoffs.
“We were one game away from the Super Bowl and we fell short,” lamented the quarterback, who was self-critical of the performance of his attack. “We didn't put anything on the scoreboard. We scored once, that's not like us,” he admitted.
EFE AND AFP
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