Chiefs 17, Ravens 10
Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce were at their best in the first half, and Kansas City’s defense locked down Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, leading the Chiefs to a 17-10 victory in the AFC championship game..
Kelce caught 11 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown, surpassing Jerry Rice’s career record for postseason receptions.
Kansas City will face San Francisco on Feb. 11, and a victory would make the Chiefs the first team to win it all in back-to-back seasons since the New England Patriots 19 years ago.
Mahomes went 30 of 39 for 241 yards and a touchdown.
Jackson went 20 of 37 for 272 yards and a touchdown, but he also turned the ball over twice, including a forced pass into heavy coverage that was picked off in the end zone with 6:45 left in the game.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes talks about winning two big games in ‘hostile environments’ and hopes to have the playoff games at home in Kansas City next year.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes says the Chiefs “always had everything in front of us, no one hung their head (after a loss) and now we’re going to the Super Bowl.”
Patrick Mahomes’ 33-yard loft to Chiefs wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling ends the Baltimore Ravens’ AFC title hopes.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson talks about the loss to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game.
49ers 34, Lions 31
Brock Purdy threw for 267 yards and a touchdown, and the San Francisco 49ers rallied from 17 points down at halftime to beat the Detroit Lions 34-31 and reach the Super Bowl.
The 49ers scored 17 points in an eight-minute span of the third quarter to tie the NFC championship game and then pulled away in the fourth quarter to earn a rematch against Kansas City after losing to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl four years ago.
San Francisco mounted the fourth comeback ever from 17 points down or more in a conference title game thanks to some big plays by Purdy and bad mistakes from the Lions, including two failed fourth downs in field-goal range. Detroit fell short of reaching the first Super Bowl in franchise history.
Christian McCaffrey had two TD runs and little-used backup Elijah Mitchell scored on a 3-yard run to make it 34-24 with 3:02 to play as the Niners got over the conference title game hump after losing the past two seasons.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is asked what he thinks of himself after winning back to back NFC Championships and being in the running for MVP.
With a two-yard touchdown run, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey broke Jerry Rice’s record of most single-season touchdowns in franchise history.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff talks about the loss to the 49ers, and being ‘battle tested’ this season.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff breaks down what went wrong for the Lions in the second half of the game: “Momentum certainly changed pretty quickly.”
49ers Open as Slight Super Bowl Favorites
The San Francisco 49ers have been installed as small Super Bowl favorites over the Kansas City Chiefs, but the point spread dropped quickly Sunday at sportsbooks around the nation.
The 49ers opened as 2.5-point favorites at ESPN BET, but the lined dipped to -1.5 within 20 minutes of being posted and was as low as -1 at some sportsbooks Sunday night.
If the line holds, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs will be underdogs in a third straight game. Kansas City is 9-3 outright as an underdog in Mahomes’ starts.
