Market Of Bliss
CNN
—
Super Bowl LVIII is finally upon us and only two teams remain in the fight for the NFL’s biggest prize. After a grueling season, the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers have taken their talents to Las Vegas, ready to leave it all on the field in the NFL’s season finale.
Which team will take home the coveted Lombardi Trophy? Which team will leave Sin City empty-handed? And will Taylor Swift be in attendance?
Here is everything you need to know ahead of the long-awaited matchup:
Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 11.
Fans can watch the game live on CBS or stream on CBS Sports, Paramount+, Youtube TV, Fubo, or the NFL app. A kid-friendly version of the game will also be broadcast on Nickelodeon.
Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs are in familiar territory, seeking their second consecutive NFL title and making their fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years. Despite their winning pedigree, this time they’re the underdogs.
The Chiefs’ road to this particular Super Bowl wasn’t as clear as seasons past. For the majority of the season, they struggled to get into a rhythm offensively. Frustrations showed on the field, and they suffered the consequences by finishing the season with the franchises’ worst record since 2014.
Despite the ups-and-downs, they managed to win when it mattered most, defeating the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, and No. 1 seed Baltimore Ravens on their way to the NFL’s biggest stage.
The 49ers, meanwhile, were among the league’s top teams for the majority of the season.
They finished the regular season 12-5, earning the NFC’s No.1 overall seed and a first-round bye. In the postseason, they battled to two come-from-behind victories over the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, cruising into the Super Bowl rather unscathed. Their next challenge is to defeat the Chiefs and win the franchise’s first Super Bowl title in nearly 30 years.
Sunday’s matchup will be the second time in just four years that these two teams will meet in a Super Bowl. When the rivals squared off in Super Bowl LIV back in 2020, Kansas City came back from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to earn its first Super Bowl title since 1970.
The epic comeback marked both Mahomes’ and head coach Andy Reid’s first Super Bowl titles. It also marked the second-largest fourth-quarter comeback in Super Bowl history, proving that Mahomes and Co. are never to be underestimated.
While the win kicked off the Mahomes era for Kansas City, the loss began an unfortunate trend for San Francisco. The Niners have been playoff regulars ever since, but never made it all the way to the mountain top. Now gearing up to face their rivals once again, fans can expect the rematch to be even more exciting than the first go-around.
One of the most interesting storylines to come out of this Super Bowl is the polarizing quarterback matchup.
Mahomes was drafted 10th overall by Kansas City back in 2017. Since then, in just his sixth year as a starting quarterback, he has amassed a laundry list of accolades that most athletes could only dream of. He’s won two Super Bowl titles, two Super Bowl MVP awards, and two league MVP awards – all before his 30th birthday.
Niners quarterback Brock Purdy, meanwhile, was the last pick in the 2022 draft. At 24-years-old, the former “Mr. Irrelevant” is seeking his first Super Bowl title in his first season as a starter. While Purdy’s resume isn’t nearly as strong as Mahomes, his play this past season proves he is not to be underestimated.
Purdy posted a league-best EPA this season, reaching numbers similar to legendary quarterbacks like Tom Brady and Joe Montanta. During the playoffs, his bend-but-never-break style of play proved enough to emerge victorious against some of the fiercest defenses in the league.
On the other hand, Mahomes posted career-worst metrics this season, though he flipped the script in the postseason. His performance over the last three games was more consistent with his playoff performances of recent memory, and those numbers are staggering.
He’s led the Chiefs to victory in 14 of 17 postseason matchups. Across those 17 games, he has 5,260 yards combined passing and rushing and has accounted for 44 touchdowns through the air. His 14 wins in the postseason – before turning 29 – are already tied for the third most of any quarterback, trailing only Montana (16) and Brady (35).
Though these quarterbacks are incredibly different in story, style, and stature, there’s no doubt they’ve both earned their spot in this high-stakes matchup. Will Mahomes do what he does best and earn his third ring? Or will Purdy’s Cinderella story become complete?
It’s impossible to talk about the Super Bowl without mentioning Taylor Swift.
Swift was the name on everybody’s lips this season, as the world watched her relationship with Chiefs star Travis Kelce unfold. The whirlwind romance between the tight end and the Grammy award-winning songstress took both the sports and entertainment worlds by storm as she – and her army of Swifties – was introduced to the sport of football.
“She’s a part of ‘Chiefs Kingdom’ right now,” Kelce said. “It’s fun seeing her enjoy the game of football knowing that it’s kinda new to her life.”
The singer attended twelve Chiefs games this season while in between stops of her worldwide “Eras Tour.” The Super Bowl will be lucky 13 – if she can make it on time.
Earlier this week, the Embassy of Japan in the United States has issued a playful statement with assurances that Swift can “comfortably arrive” in Vegas in time to see the Chiefs play after performing her February 10 concert in Tokyo, which is 17 hours ahead of Las Vegas.
According to Travis Kelce’s mother, Donna, whether or not Swift will be in attendance is a game-time decision.
“We don’t know until that day if she’ll be coming or not. And I would imagine if that would happen, she would be in somebody else’s suite because they are just outrageous (in price) at Allegiant Stadium,” Donna Kelce told CNN. “I don’t know if anybody’s gonna foot that bill.”
