NFL Conference Finals: Kansas City at Baltimore and San Francisco at Detroit for two tickets to the Super Bowl

Patrick Mahomes, the current great emblem of the American Football League (NFL), and Lamar Jackson, favorite for the MVP award, will clash for the first time in the playoffs this afternoon in the duel between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens (at 5pm :00 Argentine time, broadcast by ESPN) for a ticket to the Super Bowl.

The Chiefs, reigning champions, will visit the Ravens’ field in the final of the Conference Americanwhile this same night the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions They will play the national team final (8.30pm Argentine time, ESPN broadcasts).

The two winning teams will be the protagonists of the 58th Super Bowl on February 11th in Las Vegas (Nevada).

In the capital of the game, the Chiefs aspire to be the first franchise to retain the title since Tom Brady’s New England Patriots did so between the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

Following in Brady’s footsteps, Mahomes led Kansas City to six consecutive conference finals with two more trips to the Super Bowl, culminating with a championship ring in the 2019 season and a runner-up finish in 2020.

A major obstacle awaits the talented quarterback on his path to expanding the Chiefs’ dynasty on Sunday.

At the Ravens’ M&T Bank Stadium, Mahomes will play in his first conference finals on the road against another MVP-caliber quarterback, Lamar Jackson.

Mahomes (28) has two Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards in 2018 and 2022 while Jackson (27) received the one in 2019 and is the big contender to win this campaign.

This afternoon will be the first playoff duel between two quarterbacks under the age of 30 who have won MVP awards.

“We are simply two great (players) who will face each other like a heavyweight fight,” predicted Jackson, eager to lead the Ravens to their first Super Bowl since the triumph of the 2012 season.

“To be a champion, you have to beat a champion. That’s the mentality,” emphasized the quarterback, who fell three of the four times he played against Mahomes in the regular season.

Taylor Swift season

Without being the favorite for once, the Chiefs have grabbed most of the spotlight this postseason and not just for thrilling wins like against the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round.

From the stands, pop star Taylor Swift supported the team of her partner, tight end Travis Kelce, and should try to bring them luck again in Baltimore.

Without making much noise, the Ravens have become the best team of the regular season thanks to Jackson, one of the quarterbacks who best combines ground and air play.

This season, no quarterback has rushed for more yards (821) than Jackson, who also took a leap as a passer with 3,678 passing yards.

“There’s a reason he’s going to be the MVP,” Mahomes said of his rival. “He manages his team, he scores, he runs, he shoots, he does everything necessary to win. This is what the greats do.”

The Lions and an appointment with history

The other ticket for the Super Bowl will be decided at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara (California), where the San Francisco 49ers will host the Detroit Lions.

The NL’s top-seeded 49ers are heavy favorites to win their fourth straight conference championship, but they showed some signs of weakness in a heartbreaking win over the Packers last week.

Their star running back Christian McCaffrey, with two touchdowns, and the young quarterback Brock Purdy, with a last-ditch offensive series, managed to maintain the hopes of a title that has eluded San Francisco since 1994.

For their part, the third-seeded Lions will compete in their first conference final in the last three decades and will compete for the first Super Bowl in their history under the guidance of the experienced Jared Goff.

At 29 years old, Goff wants to become the fifth quarterback to lead two franchises to the Super Bowl, after falling in the 2018 season in the title fight with the Los Angeles Rams against Brady’s Patriots.

Source: AFP