The NFL conference championships have wrapped up and fans finally have their answer for who will be playing in the 2024 Super Bowl. The San Francisco 49ers will take on the Kansas City Chiefs for the NFL’s 58th Super Bowl matchup. The game will take place on Sunday, Feb. 11 at 3:30 p.m. located at Allegiant Stadium, the home of the Las Vegas Raiders.
The two teams faced off in the 2020 Super Bowl where the Chiefs came out on top 31-20. Both teams looked a little different and have adjusted since then but most of the key players remain. For the Chiefs they lost superstar receiver Tyreek Hill. The 49ers lost their quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, but second year quarterback Brock Purdy has replaced him well, bringing the 49ers back to the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs are looking to go back-to-back winning two Super Bowls in a row. They took on the Philadelphia Eagles last year and the Chiefs won in a high scoring matchup of 38-35. This win secured quarterback Patrick Mahomes along with many other Chiefs players their second Super Bowl triumph.
All eyes have been on the Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce this year as he is publicly dating globally recognized pop superstar Taylor Swift. She has attended many games and the camera is always panned in her direction. It has been one of the biggest storylines of the year and now she has an opportunity to watch her boyfriend bring in more hardware. Swift was just awarded her fourth Album of the Year from at Grammys; so if Kelce secures a win this weekend, it will be a big week for the two.
The 49ers have yet to win a Super Bowl win since 1995 against the then San Diego Chargers. They have a defense built for championships, Fred Warner and Nick Bosa are some of the best at their respective positions. They each are one of six players who have made an all pro team for the 49ers. They are very deep at nearly every position and even with injuries they have had someone step up. Their offense was boosted once they added one of the best running backs in the NFL in Christian McCaffrey.
The Observer conducted a poll on their Instagram account @CWUObserver, and found that 80% of the polled followers think that Kansas City is going to win. Offline, that consensus doesn’t seem to be completely shared.
Sophomore accounting major Josh Durfee shared his thoughts on the matchup. “I have the 49ers,” he said. “As far as I believe they’ve got the pieces on every level of both sides of the ball.” Durfee made sure to acknowledge the greatness of Mahomes saying, “I think he goes down as the most talented QB of all time.”
Junior accounting and management major Gavin Bradford broke down the 49ers roster and the reasons he also believes they will come out on top. “They’ve had a championship roster for years and have never been so loaded with talent,” Bradford said. “The Niners are not only filled with talent, but great NFL stories like Purdy and McCaffrey.”
Much like Seahawks fans being matched up with the 49ers twice a year for divisional games, Bradford is a Denver Broncos fan who sees the Chiefs two times a season. Seeing that Mahomes’ career record is 12-1 against the Broncos, Bradford has witnessed what this quarterback is capable of many times.
Giving his overall opinion of the Chiefs’ success, Bradford said “Putting bias aside, Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid have done remarkable things that have not been done since Tom Brady and Bill Belichick and have deserved all the accolades given.”
Mahomes has had much success in the playoffs in his career. In his six years starting as quarterback for Kansas City, Mahomes has made the American Football Conference Championship Game every season. Despite the early struggles of the season he has still shown up in the playoffs like usual.
Second year secondary math education major and Seahawks fan Cole Miller drew upon his own experiences having seen the Chiefs’ playoff success and took this into consideration when he made his call, “I’ve got the Kansas City Chiefs; I think that Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs is just a different beast,” Miller said. “It would take a quarterback opposite him better than Brock Purdy to win.”
Purdy was the number 262 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. That pick is the last pick of the entire draft and is always known as “Mr. Irrelevant.” He has been far from irrelevant so far in his career and now he is taking on Mahomes and the Chiefs at the biggest stage in football.
