The Regular National Football League Season has just come to a close, and now fourteen teams are battling to play in Super Bowl LVIII, one of the biggest sporting events in the United States. The First games started on Saturday, January 13th. NFL Playoffs is a 4-week long stretch of single elimination games until only two teams are left.
The fourteen eliminated playoff teams from this year are the Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans, and the Miami Dolphins. This is a crazy important worldwide advent that has everyone on their toes.
The NFL Playoffs are coming to an end. This last season for The Detroit Lions has been better than usual, almost winning playoffs for the first time since 1957 according to Statmuse. With a close game of 31-34, the Lions made Detroit proud by beating The Los Angeles Rams. The Lions have also beaten the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings, and New Orleans Saints. With new coach Dan Campbell coming in, The Lions have a great chance for next season. According to Michigan Live, “…and they’ll have one of the league’s most talented rosters at their disposal, with only three full-time starters from their 14-6 season eligible to hit free agency in March.” Sounds like the Lions are slowly coming back and maybe even have a chance for next year’s Super Bowl.
(Top right) Lions Detroit loses against the San Francisco 49ers
(Bottom right) The Baltimore Ravens in AFC going against the San Francisco 49ers in NFC (Noa Prothais)
Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams Quarterback, lost to the Detroit Lions and could only complete sixty-nine percent of his passes. The Chiefs are very vulnerable defending the run, particularly on the edges. This might be a major issue to the Chiefs as the 49ers have a strong running back Christian McCaffrey and he takes advantage of the edge. Josh Allen from The Buffalo Bills didn’t show his all during this year’s playoffs.
In this year’s American Football Conference Championship game, the Chiefs defeated the Baltimore Ravens on the road (17-10) to advance to their fourth Super Bowl in five seasons. In the National Football Conference Championship Game, the 49ers came from behind to beat the Detroit Lions (34-31) score according to Goal. This leaves The Kansas City Chief against the 49ers in this year’s Super Bowl. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has won two and lost one leaving him at his fourth Super Bowl, and The 49ers’ Brock Purdy is the eighth quarterback to start in the Super Bowl in his first or second NFL season, with Joe Burrow and Russell Wilson as the most recent quarterbacks.
The Chiefs and the 49ers met in the Super Bowl back in 2020 when the Chiefs beat the 49ers 31-20 according to The Athletic. The starting quarterback then for the 49ers was Jimmy Garoppolo, while the quarterback for the Chiefs was Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes will start for the Chiefs this year, while the 49ers are bringing in a new face in Brock Purdy. The Chiefs will look to add another win to their Super Bowl record increasing them to 4 wins. The 49ers are looking to go for their sixth win next Sunday. It’s been heard that this will be a very close game having everyone at the edge of their seats.
Other than the strong playing teams there’s more that makes The Super Bowl great. On People newspaper, The Kansas City Chiefs head coach is Andy Reid who has been coaching since 2013. And The 49ers head coach is Kyle Shanahan, who’s been coaching them since 2017!
Grizzly Gazette Sports Team Picks!!
Sophia Walker- 49ers 32-28
Noa Prothais- 49ers 26-22
Abel Nieto- 49ers 27-2
Adrian Ramos- 49ers 28-14
Kenan Mansilla- 49ers 28-24
Brayden Brewer- 49ers 30-27
Student Submissions are now open ! Submit your articles, poems, short stories, and opinion pieces. This month’s theme is Nostalgia although it’s not limited to it, it is strongly encouraged. We look forward to reading your amazing pieces !
