2024 Super Bowl is set, with the Kansas City Chiefs to face the San Francisco 49ers

Blog Updated: January 28, 2024 at 10:58 PM Eastern Standard Time via CBS News.

The teams that will face each other in the upcoming Super Bowl of 2024 have been decided. The San Francisco 49ers will be challenging the Kansas City Chiefs, who are the current champions.

The upcoming Super Bowl LVIII will be aired in real-time from the Allegiant Stadium located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event will be viewable through the CBS and Nickelodeon channels, as well as being available for streaming on Paramount+.

Chiefs Triumph Over Ravens In AFC Championship

Kansas City is going to their second consecutive Super Bowl, and it's the fourth time in the past five seasons for the team. They secured their spot by defeating the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship with a score of 17-10.

On Sunday, the football game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore was a clash between two of the league's most exciting quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. After the Ravens failed to make any progress on their first offensive drive, it appeared that the game could become very high-scoring.

In the following possessions, each team scored touchdowns. The Chiefs marched down the field for 86 yards with 10 plays and Travis Kelce, the famous tight end, caught the touchdown pass (it's worth mentioning that Taylor Swift was there watching). After that, the Ravens didn't waste time and quickly put together a 6-play drive which resulted in a touchdown thanks to a 30-yard pass from Jackson to Flowers. This only took a bit over two and a half minutes to even up the score.

Afterwards, the Chiefs formulated a long 16-play drive resulting in a touchdown that lasted for nine minutes of the game. The touchdown was made by Isiah Pacheco who ran two yards, giving the Chiefs a score of 17-7 and marking the last touchdown made by either team.

After that, the game was characterized by sturdy defense and wasted chances. Then, the Ravens attempted to advance but Jackson was unable to maintain possession of the ball when he was tackled by the Chiefs, who recovered it on the 33 yard line of Baltimore. Despite the superb position on the field, Kansas City was unable to score any points on their following drive since they failed to make a crucial conversion during a 4th down and 1 yard run.

The squads proceeded to trade punts for the next three possessions. Finally, the Chiefs wrapped up the half by nailing a 56-yard field goal.

The Ravens made some critical mistakes that cost them the game. The turning point happened at the start of the final quarter when Flowers lost possession of the ball just before scoring a touchdown. The fumble resulted in a touchback for the Chiefs as they regained control of the ball in the endzone.

During the Ravens' subsequent possession, they made a good effort towards their goal but were quickly halted when Jackson's throw on 2nd down and 10 yards from the Kansas City 25-yard line, which was meant for Isaiah Likely but had strong coverage, was intercepted in the endzone.

However, despite the problems faced by the Ravens, the offense of the Chiefs was also not able to score anything after the second half.

In the second half, the only points scored were from a 43-yard field goal kicked by Justin Tucker with only 2 minutes and 34 seconds remaining in the 4th quarter. This brought the Ravens closer to the Chiefs with a deficit of only seven points. Unfortunately, Baltimore's offense did not have another chance to score as the Chiefs effectively ended the game with a 32-yard pass from Mahomes to Marquez Valdes-Scantling on 3rd and 9. This play allowed the Chiefs to gain a new set of downs and control the game until the two-minute warning.

Because the Ravens had no timeouts left, they couldn't pause the game, and all the Chiefs had to do was kneel a couple of times to finish the game.

Lions Lose NFC Championship To 49ers

The NFC Championship game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California saw the San Francisco 49ers emerge victorious with a 34-31 score against the Detroit Lions. Interestingly, even Bob Weir, the co-founder of the iconic band Grateful Dead, was present to witness the clash. However, the loss was a significant setback for the Detroit Lions.

The Lions were well ahead with a score of 24-7 during halftime, giving them a great chance to participate in their debut Super Bowl game. However, in the latter half, the 49ers made a strong comeback and showed impressive resilience.

In the third quarter, San Francisco successfully scored a field goal during their first possession. This allowed them to take a lead of two scores. Additionally, during their next drive, they got lucky when Brandon Aiyuk made a remarkable catch of a deep ball that had hit off a defender's facemask. This led to them being able to start their next play at the five yard line with a first and goal opportunity. Following this, the Niners went on an incredible streak where they scored 27 points in a row. They even managed to score a three-yard Elijah Mitchell touchdown, which made it 34-24 with only 3:02 left to play in the game.

San Francisco was given a boost in their comeback campaign thanks to Detroit's failure to succeed in converting during two fourth down attempts while in range for a field goal in the latter half of the game. Lions' coach Dan Campbell displayed confidence in his team's ability to succeed with going for the conversion and believed that it would give his team the impetus needed to maintain their momentum and prevent San Francisco from scoring through long balls.

Campbell acknowledged that his team was trying to delay the game by wasting time, as they usually do. He felt the need to change the situation and regain control. He admitted it's easy to analyze the situation after the fact, but he doesn't regret his decisions. Despite the disappointment of the outcome, he accepts that criticism is part of his job and the plan just didn't succeed.

With only 56 seconds left, The Lions managed to close the gap to three, but were unable to regain possession of the ball after failing to recover the onside kick. As a result, San Francisco was able to use up the remaining time on the clock.

The victory of San Francisco has prepared the stage for a new game against their opponents from the 2020 Super Bowl LIV, in which the Chiefs prevailed over the 49ers with a score of 31-20.

Jordan Freiman works as an editor and writer at CBSNews.com. His areas of focus include sports, crime, trending content, and breaking news. Before his role at CBSNews.com, he has worked for publications such as Death and Taxes, as well as Spin magazine.

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