Whatever the outcome on Sunday, the NFL’s AFC and NFC championship games promised to be exciting Super Bowl matchups, and they did. We’re not here to begrump about our situation. We will talk about the Kansas City Chiefs versus the San Francisco 49ers in a moment.
But first, we are here to mourn the team that went missing—the Ravens and Lions—the team of Super Bowl aspirations.
Well, everyone and lions alike.
The only NFL title won by Detroit occurred before the Super Bowl, making it comparable to ancient sports. Maybe the Cretaceous Period. 1957 was the year. Hopalong Cassady was a player with those Lions. The standout quarterback and extra point kicker was Bobby Layne. I think the box turtle’s shell served as his helmet.
The only team in baseball with a longer current championship gap than Detroit is the Cleveland Guardians-nee-Indians, who last won a title in 1948. These four major sports leagues are MLB, NHL, NFL, and NBA.
Jackson’s Ravens, on the other hand, lost 17-10 at Baltimore, and Detroit subsequently pulled off the greatest Detroit comeback in history, squandering a 24-7 lead in the third quarter and ending up 34-31 against San Francisco. That was, at least in part, due to Dan Campbell, who, after showing off his ridiculous bravery on two fourth-and-short attempts and giving up an easy six points on the field, kneecapped his own team.
A pass bounced off the helmet of a Lions defender, setting for a long Niners reception. Passes were dropped. The blunder by Jahmyr Gibbs hurt a lot. However, Campbell’s actions in the fourth quarter, which cost his team six points, will live in infamy.
A Super Bowl victory for Detroit would have been truly extraordinary, the kind of tale that only athletics can provide.
We’ll settle for the 49ers and Chiefs in Las Vegas on February 11.
Outside of that city, nobody seems to care that San Francisco hasn’t won a Super Bowl since 1994—the 11th longest streak in the NFL. You never think about the 49ers when discussing the greatest fans, even within it. Coach Kyle Shanahan and the club are corporately efficient, albeit a little monotonous in their brilliance. The quarterback Brock Purdy has a neat backstory as the final selection in the 2022 Draft. He also bears the last name of a character from a Saturday morning cartoon.
The only fans of the 49ers outside of San Francisco will be those who are supporting their wagers and those who are sick of the Kansas City Chiefs, a group that
Past it, Patrick Mahomes with his TV ads. Please spare us, Jason Kelce, his brother, and their mother. Enough of Andy Reid’s hunky charm! (Anticipated storyline in the media that I’m already tired of: Would Mahomes join Tom Brady as the greatest player ever if he won a third Super Bowl?)
Not to mention Kelce’s best friend Taylor Swift cheering from up in a suite! (Although if CBS is going to air Swift during the Super Bowl, at least make it a lot—I have the “over” on 5 1/2 on a prop bet for them to show that!)
The Chiefs-49ers game is almost like pick-’em. Don’t get me wrong, I think the football might be fantastic. And there’s that it’s a Super Bowl rematch from four years prior.
However, the game lacks the all-around emotional appeal of the underdog and is not as fascinating as the Super Bowl we nearly had but lost.
