It’s Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and defending champion Kansas City taking on Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffery, George Kittle and the San Francisco 49ers in the 58th edition of the Super Bowl, Sunday night from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images.
It’s hard to know what conversation is bigger surrounding the National Football League’s biggest game of the season.
The game itself, or all the Taylor Swift fandom.
We’ll focus on the field.
It’s Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and defending champion Kansas City taking on Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffery, George Kittle and the San Francisco 49ers in the 58th edition of the Super Bowl, Sunday night from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It’s the first time ever the Super Bowl will be played in Sin City, USA.
The showdown is also a rematch from four years ago when Kansas City prevailed 31-20.
“The 49ers have an offence that has a lot of talent, a lot of guys that can do a lot of things,” Kansas City Coach Andy Reid told reporters. “Actually, there are quite a few of the same guys (from 2020) and they played to a very high level then. I think they are even better now.”
This will be San Francisco Coach Kyle Shanahan’s third Super Bowl – second as a head coach, including blowing a big lead to Kansas City four years ago.
“We’re real proud of what we’ve accomplished in five years but we still want to be the one team that’s happy (after winning),” Shanahan said. “We’ve gotten close. We’re real proud we’re back in this situation. But we also know how it feels when you don’t get it done. We want to go and make sure we get it done this year.”
And here in 2024 San Francisco is the slight favorite, even though Kansas City is trying to become the first repeat champion in 19 years.
The 49ers are looking for their first NFL Championship since 1995.
Both teams feature offenses and defenses ranked in the top 10 in both categories.
San Francisco features the NFL’s second ranked offense, while Kansas City sports the league’s second best defense.
“It comes down to how do I do my job really well for three hours against the Kansas City Chiefs’ defense,” said San Francisco Quarterback Brock Purdy. “That’s where my mindset’s at. I want to do everything I can to help my team win. I’m focusing on the plays. I’m focusing on what we’re trying to do for this week, not getting caught up in all the paparazzi and all that kind of stuff outside.”
A win by Kansas City would put them in “dynasty” territory, as only three teams in the last 50 years have won at least three Super Bowls in a five year span. The 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers, the 1990s Dallas Cowboys and the 2000s New England Patriots.
“I don’t think you can really say that you’re a dynasty until it’s over and people will look back at your career and how you did it,” Kansas City Quarterback Patrick Mahomes explained. “And so for me, it’s just trying to be great every single year. When I look back at my career, I’ll know that I gave everything I had.”
Kickoff is set for 6:30 pm EST Sunday night.
Rod Mawhood is a lifelong Niagara native who has had the pleasure of working in all three mediums – Radio, Print and TV – for over 20 years. His first announcing gig was with the then St. Catharines Stompers. Since then he’s worked in radio and TV in Toronto, and currently is the announcer for the Niagara IceDogs and Niagara River Lions.
Rod also covers the Buffalo Bills for FOX Sports and the Buffalo Sabres for NBC Sports.
