The San Francisco 49ers overturned a 17-point half-time deficit to book a Super Bowl clash with the defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.
The 49ers scored 27 unanswered points as they beat the Detroit Lions 34-31 in the NFC Championship game to book a trip to Las Vegas.
It is their second Super Bowl appearance in five seasons having lost to the Chiefs four years ago.
Victory – and the chance to win a Super Bowl for the first time in 29 years – looked a long way off when Jameson Williams ended the opening drive with a 42-yard touchdown run and David Montgomery went in from close range to give the Lions a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
Christian McCaffrey cut the gap from two yards early in the second quarter, but Jahmyr Gibbs ran in from 15 yards and Michael Badgley added a field goal to stretch the Lions’ cushion.
The game swung after the interval as the 49ers scored 17 points in eight minutes.
Jake Moody landed a field goal before Brandon Aiyuk caught a six-yard touchdown pass from Brock Purdy – after the pair had connected on a 51-yard throw via the face mask of the Lions’ Kindle Vildor – and McCaffrey went in again to level the scores.
Moody kicked them ahead for the first time before Elijah Mitchell’s three-yard run stretched the advantage, Williams’ late score leaving the Lions too little time to create another chance and ruing two failed fourth down attempts in kickable range.
“We played as bad of a first half as we could,” coach Kyle Shanahan told Fox. “It’s been a long year to get to this point and we got it done today.
“It was hard at the beginning, but the character we have in our team, the type of guys we have, we can’t wait to get to Vegas, man.”
The Chiefs will defend their Super Bowl title after beating the Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in the AFC Championship game.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed his first 11 pass attempts and threw for 241 yards and a touchdown, but it was the Chiefs defence which was largely responsible for securing a fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years.
The Ravens were restricted to just 10 points on home soil and quarterback Lamar Jackson was intercepted in the end zone in the fourth quarter as he attempted to round off what would have been a 99-yard drive.
Mahomes told CBS: “God put a lot of adversity in our way this year and we accepted the challenge and we’re better for it.
“It’s been a heck of a year, we’re not done yet, but this is the way to get there.”
The Chiefs had reached the AFC Championship game for a sixth straight season, but did so by winning on the road for the first time with victory at the Buffalo Bills last week.
“We’ve been underdogs for the last few games but we never feel like underdogs,” Mahomes added.
“We’ve got a lot of guys in this team that know how to win and when the play-offs came around I knew we were going to make it happen.
“Now we’re in the Super Bowl and the job’s not done. We’ve got to go out there to Vegas and play a great team and see if we can get the Super Bowl.”
Kansas City, who will bid to become the NFL’s first back-to-back champions since the New England Patriots in the 2003 and 2004 seasons, signalled their attacking intent from the off against the Ravens, refusing to punt on fourth and two on their opening drive.
That allowed Mahomes to keep the drive alive with a 13-yard completion to Travis Kelce – who was watched from the stands once more by girlfriend Taylor Swift – and the same pair combined on a 19-yard touchdown throw to give the Chiefs an early 7-0 lead.
The Ravens responded in kind as Jackson ran for 21 yards on fourth and one from his own 34 and three plays later Jackson hit Zay Flowers from 30 yards to level the scores, only for the Chiefs to compile a 16-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a two-yard touchdown run from Isiah Pacheco.
A frenetic start also included Jackson recording a 13-yard completion to himself after reacting quickest to catch his own pass after it was tipped at the line of scrimmage, but the only other score in the first half – a 52-yard field goal from Harrison Butker – gave the Chiefs a 17-7 lead.
The contest was arguably decided on two key plays at the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth, with Flowers squandering the momentum of a 54-yard reception by taunting cornerback L’Jarius Sneed and incurring a 15-yard penalty.
Sneed had the last laugh in the first play of the fourth quarter, punching the ball loose as Flowers dived for the end zone, and when Deon Bush intercepted Jackson on the Ravens’ next drive, the game was effectively over.
Star NFL tight end Kelce reportedly agrees to two-year extension with Chiefs
Travis Kelce has been instrumental to the Chiefs' success over the past few seasons and will remain in Kansas City for the next few seasons.
The four-time All-Pro tight end and the Chiefs have agreed to a two-year contract extension, according to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport.
Terms of the extension were not disclosed, but Rapoport reported Monday that the deal will make him the NFL's highest-paid tight end.
Kelce is currently under contract through 2025, so the new deal will keep him in Kansas City through 2027 after his age-37 season.
The 34-year-old Kelce is Kansas City's all-time leader in receiving yards with 11,328 yards, while ranking second in receptions (907) and second in receiving touchdowns (74). He is just 10 catches away from passing Tony Gonzalez as the franchise's all-time leader in receptions and three TD catches away from surpassing Gonzalez's record in that category.
A third-round pick by the Chiefs in 2013, Kelce saw his NFL record streak for a tight end of consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards end at seven in 2023, when he finished with a team-high 984 yards. His 93 receptions were also the most on the Chiefs, and he had five touchdown grabs.
It may have been a down season by his standards, but he was still named to his ninth Pro Bowl team and once again produced in the play-offs.
In helping Kansas City defend its Super Bowl title and secure its third Lombardi Trophy in the last five seasons, Kelce caught 32 passes for 355 yards with three touchdowns in four play-off games. In the Chiefs' 25-22 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers in February's Super Bowl, Kelce had nine receptions for 93 yards,
In addition to being one of the most prolific tight ends in NFL history and a core member of the Chiefs' recent dynasty, Kelce has gained enormous popularity in the last year due to his relationship to pop icon Taylor Swift.
Three-time Pro Bowl running back Elliott rejoining Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are bringing back two-time NFL rushing champion Ezekiel Elliott after the sides agreed to terms on a deal Monday.
Dallas selected Elliott with the fourth overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft out of Ohio State, and he won the NFL rushing title as a rookie (1,631 yards) and again in 2018 (1,434).
After a contract holdout prior to the 2019 campaign, Elliott landed a $90million, six-year extension and wound up rushing for 1,357 yards that season.
He only surpassed 1,000 yards on the ground once from 2020-22 before being released in March 2023 and signing a one-year contract with the New England Patriots.
Elliott ranks third in Dallas franchise history with 8,262 rushing yards behind all-time NFL rushing leader Emmitt Smith (17,162) and Tony Dorsett (12,036).
He is also third in team history with 68 rushing touchdowns behind Pro Football Hall of Famers Smith (153) and Dorsett (72).
Elliott, who will turn 29 years old in July, ran for 642 yards and three touchdowns in 17 games with New England last season.
Tony Pollard led Dallas in 2023 with 1,005 rushing yards before signing with the Tennessee Titans in March.
Texans wide receiver Dell shot, suffers minor wound
Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell was shot as an innocent bystander and sustained a minor wound outside a nightclub in Samford, Florida on Saturday night.
The team said Dell has already been released from the hospital and is “in good spirits.”
A total of 10 people were wounded in the shooting, but all the injuries are non-life threatening.
Houston selected Dell in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and the Daytona Beach, Florida native had 47 catches for 709 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games last season.
Dell did not play after Week 13 due to a fractured fibula.
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