Chiefs, 49ers returning to Super Bowl; Frustration, heartbreak for Lions, Ravens

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Good morning everyone but especially…

THE KANSAS CITY BOSS AND THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

The more things change, the more they stay the same: Bosses are returning to the Super Bowl and face an opponent they met there four years ago: the 49ers.

It’s hard to overstate how impressive Kansas City was. The defending champions went to Baltimore and suffocated Lamar Jacksonattack while achieving excellent Patrick Mahomes It is Travis Kelce in a courageous 17-10 victory over Crows. Kansas City is heading to its fourth Super Bowl in five seasons.

Mahomes’ stats may not seem surprising, but his ability to make the right plays — sometimes highlight-worthy, sometimes ordinary and sometimes just smart — helped the visitors make enough against the league’s best defense. It helps that he has Kelce (11 receptions, 116 yards, one touchdown and a big broken record), but at the decisive moment of the game, he found Márquez Valdés-Scantling on a perfect 32-yard throw.

It was another excellent performance from Mahomes when his team needed it mostI wrote from Baltimore.

• Pereles: “It was emblematic of the Chiefs’ trajectory this season. Valdes-Scantling dropped a similar pass against Eagles in November, a game that started Kansas City losing four of its next six. But Mahomes then took the blame and was looking forward to giving out worship on Sunday. … Just like this game, this was far from Mahomes’ best season. But through these struggles, he improved his ability to manage games – a skill often used to ridicule quarterbacks, but one that helped the Chiefs advance to the Super Bowl.”

The defense, meanwhile, was absolutely fantastic, holding the Ravens to a season-low 10 points. Also fantastic? Jeff Kerr’s story about the Chiefs defense and the shirts made to honor his coordinator.

Then came the offensive penalty shootout in a game that, again, was heavy on drama. The 49ers erased a 17-point halftime deficit. the largest in conference championship history – to beat the Lions34-31.

After playing a miserable half, the 49ers played some of the best football I’ve ever seen and had a few opportunities along the way. The movement chart for the second half was: field goal, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, kneel down to end the game. Along the way, Brandon Aiyuk done one of the greatest catches you’ve ever seen, Christian McCaffrey Broke a record, Jahmyr Gibbs got messed up, Josh Reynolds dropped two passes and the Lions fumbled two fourth downs and blew the clock. More on that in a bit.

But I want to talk about Brock Purdy. Here’s his second half: 13 of 16 passing for 174 yards and a score, plus four rushes for 49 yards. Yes, Purdy helped put the 49ers at a disadvantage. But there is also a reason Kyle Shanahan he was 0-31 when losing more than five points in the fourth quarter before last week and 0-19 when down 17+ in the second half before this week and now has a win in both scenarios. Because Purdy – although he can dig some holes for you – can also rescue you from them. What a performance.

Some early Super Bowl content…

Honorable mentions

And it’s not such a good day for…

THE RAVENS OF BALTIMORE AND THE LIONS OF DETROIT

Losing hurts, but losing really hurts when winning is within your reach. And the Ravens and Lions had a trip to the Super Bowl within their reach.

Baltimore will rue a series of missed opportunities, egregious mistakes and a dismal offensive day. Here is the long list of failures:

• Eight penalties for 95 yards, including five personal fouls
• Zay Floresmoments after a provocative penalty, fumbling inches from the goal line
• Jackson throwing an interception in triple coverage
• Six carries for 23 yards by running backs (and just 16 runs for 81 total yards)
• Three turnovers (two in scoring position) and zero forced turnovers

It felt like a team that had been there before and a team that hadn’twrites Jeff Kerr.

Meanwhile, the Lions collapsed. Clear and simple. Two key drops by Reynolds that would have been first downs. A Gibbs disaster. An ill-conceived (and, even worse, poorly executed) play late in the game that cost the Lions a vital timeout.

Oh yeah, and those two misses on fourth down that could have been two field goals – six points – in a game the Lions lost by three.

But that’s just how Dan Campbell is. I won’t criticize him for following your philosophy, who just produced one of the best seasons in franchise history and completely revitalized the organization. He stood by his decisions postgame, and I’m okay with that. If Reynolds or Gibbs holds a ball, we’re talking about the NFC champion Lions. Instead, we’re talking about what could have been, a painful loss of all time. AND no one will take this more seriously than Campbell himself.

Not-so-honorable mentions

LeBron James and Stephen Curry deliver double suspense in overtime; Luka Doncic scores 73

The NBA called it “Rivals Week” and boy did the league ever deliver – LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry It was one of the best regular season games ever. James (36 points, 20 rebounds, 12 assists) sank a pair of free throws with 1.2 seconds left in the second overtime to lift the Lakers for a 145-144 victory over Warriors.

This game was absolutely crazy: Curry (46 points, nine 3-pointers) forced overtime, Klay Thompson forced double overtime, D’Angelo Russell I did a lot of absurd (absurdly good) things It is absurdly bad), and just when it looked like Golden State would get a win with yet another 3-pointer from Curry, James got to the line and converted. Colin Ward-Henninger broke down the 10 greatest momentsand honestly, this list could have been twice as long. I don’t know how many LeBron vs. Steph we will, but they keep delivering.

The night before, we got another stopwatch: 73 points of Luka Doncicthe fourth most in NBA history. Devin Booker had one mere 62 in. another night with two remarkable explosions.

Jannick Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka win Australian Open singles titles

For the first time in a decade there is a name outside the Big Three in the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup. Jannick Sinner stunned Novak Djokovic in the semifinals and then overcame Daniel Medvedev, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3to win the Australian Open and claim her first Grand Slam title.

• Sinner, 22, is also the first Italian to win the Australian Open title and the first Italian to win a major since Adriano Panata in 1976.
• He is the first player outside of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal It is Roger Federer winning the Australian Open since Stan Wawrinka in 2014.

What an ending it was. Medvedev got through two sets but Sinner fought back, winning the third and fourth sets and taking control with a big forehand winner in the fifth to make a break. The match winner, fittingly, was also a great forehand.

On the women’s side, Aryna Sabalenka end any chance of a new champion by passing Qinwen Zheng, 6-3, 6-2for his second consecutive Australian Open title. Sabalenka did not lose a set in the entire tournament and was absolutely dominant against Zheng, winning eight of the first nine points to set the tone.

Sabalenka, 25, is the first woman to repeat at the Australian Open since Victoria Azarenka in 2012-13, and she already has her sights set on a triple-peat, telling the crowd, “I love you so much and I can’t wait to come back,” after the win.

What will we watch on Monday

No. 12 Duke at Virginia Tech (M)7pm on ESPN
#9 LSU at Mississippi State (W)9pm on ESPN2
Suns in the heat7:30 pm on NBA TV
#4 Houston in Texas (M)9pm on ESPN
76ers at Trail Blazers10pm on NBA TV