On January 29, 2023 there was four teams that were one game away from making it to Super Bowl LVII.
The first game was for the NFC championship between the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Fransisco 49ers.
Many storylines were at play when coming into this game. The 49ers who had been fabulous all year despite losing their starting Quarterback Trey Lance due to a season ending foot injury. Then soon after losing their second string Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo due to a season ending foot injury as well. Everyone thought their season was over. Sure enough the rookie Brock Purdy the last pick in this past years draft stepped up and went undefeated in the 6 weeks he was starter to lead them into the playoffs.
On the other hand, we have the Philadelphia Eagles who have been one of the most dominant teams all season, nobody has been able to stop them. During the regular season they had went 14-3 under head coach Nick Sirianni. Since the midway point of the season mostly everyone had them coming out the NFC to make it to the Super Bowl.
On January 29, This heated matchup had taken place in Philadelphia, home of the Eagles. From Kickoff the fans were thrilled for this highly anticipated matchup.
Midway through the first quarter the starting quarterback Brock Purdy goes out with an injury and they had to turn to their 4th string Quarterback Josh Johnson.
In the first quarter, running back Miles Sanders, from the Eagles had scored the first touchdown and the fans were extremely excited to see that. The Eagles defense stepped up all quarter and did not let the 49ers score at all ending the first quarter 7-0.
Then Midway through the second quarter Running Back Christian McCaffrey runs for a 23 yard touchdown tying the game at 7-7. Just like that the 49ers are back in the game.
Then with under 2 minutes to go in the first half the Eagles had took the lead back with a a 13 yard touchdown run from Running Back Miles Sanders. Making the score 14-7.
The eagles never turned back from that point forward with the crowd on their side ending the first half with a 21-7 lead.
Entering the second half the crowd got louder and the 49ers had no answer. They could not get their offense going and the Eagles defense could not be stopped. The eagles go on to win the game 31-7 and are heading back to the Super Bowl.
Approximately around 6:30 PM the second game of championship Sunday was set to kickoff this matchup included the Kanas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals which was a repeat of last year AFC matchup where the Bengals came out on top.
This game had a lot of hype around it as well. The Quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals Joe Burrow is 3-0 against the Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who is currently dealing with a high ankle sprain heading into the matchup.
The big question was if Kansas City can put an end to Bengals nation who began calling Arrowhead stadium “BurrowHead Stadium”? Could they stop Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati offense from going back to the Super Bowl? Or will the defense of the Bengals lock down Patrick Mahomes and the high powered Chiefs offense preventing them from going to their 3rd Super Bowl in the past 4 years?
At the 8:50 mark of the first quarter field goal kicker Harrison Butker knocks down a 43 yard Field Goal to give Kansas city the lead. Ending the first quarter 3-0.
Then 2 seconds into the second quarter the the Field Goal kicker of the Chiefs comes out to drill a 24 yard Field goal extending Kansas City lead 6-0. Later on in the second quarter the Kicker for the Bengals knocked in a 30 yard Field goal to finally put Cincinnati on the board 3-6. Then in the final 3 minutes Quarterback Patrick Mahomes finds his best friend TE Travis Kelce for his first touchdown of the game extending the lead 13-3. Kansas city takes the lead going into halftime 13-6.
In the third quarter both teams took turns scoring touchdowns one from WR Tee Higgins of Cincinnati and Maequez Valdez-Scantling of the Chiefs to end the quarter 20-13 favoring the Chiefs.
Early in the fourth quarter Running back Samaje Perine of the Bengals scores a touchdown to tie the game at 20.
Both defenses stepped up to the plate playing tremoudus defense trying to give their offense a chance of winning the game. Surely enough, with less than minute to go Patrick Mahomes scrambles out the pocket and gains enough yards after the penalty to give his kicker Harrison Butker a chance of knocking down a 45 yard field goal to take them back to the superbowl.
And he knocks it down.
Kansas City wins the AFC championship game 23-20.
The match is set:
The Kansas City Chiefs will face off against the Philadelphia Eagles on February 12, 2023 at 6:30 PM EST.
Now that we know our Super Bowl matchup the talk now is how the Eagles have the edge over the Chiefs because of the newly named MVP Patrick Mahomes high ankle sprain.
Also this SuperBowl matchup has a lot of hype because the Head coach Andy Reid previously coached for the opponent the Philadelphia Eagles. So he knows a lot about the fan base and know how loud they can get to try to disrupt his team from winning.
Going into this matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles have Quarterbacks are making History that never happened before in the History of the National Football League. They both are young African American superstars who are ready for the big stage.
Lastly, the most interesting storyline involves family. Why family? Well its because there are brothers that are matching up on February 12th. It is pro bowl center for Philadelphia Eagles Jason Kelce and the Tight End for the Chiefs Travis Kelce. So not only are we as fans for the matchup but there are family bragging rights at stake too.