NFL Takeaways: 49ers' remarkable comeback sets up Super Bowl rematch vs. Chiefs

For the second straight year and the fourth time in five seasons, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are heading to the Super Bowl. The defending champions defeated the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in a game that saw Mahomes & Co. storm out to an early lead in the first half while Steve Spagnuolo’s defence kept it intact in the second to claim the AFC Conference title on Sunday.

Awaiting them on the Super Bowl stage will be a familiar opponent: The San Francisco 49ers. These two teams squared off in Super Bowl LIV in February 2020, with Mahomes’ Chiefs being crowned champs — the title that launched this streak they’re currently on.

While the Chiefs have been back to the game’s biggest stage twice since, including a second victory last February, the last few years have been marked by missed opportunities in San Francisco. And Sunday’s NFC Championship Game almost brought another — down 24-7 to the Detroit Lions at halftime, the 49ers climbed back to come out on top 34-31. After losing back-to-back NFC Championship games since their Super Bowl loss in 2020, the 49ers now return to the game’s biggest stage in dramatic fashion.

We’ve got two weeks to set the stage for the Super Bowl rematch coming our way. For now, let’s look at what went so right (and so wrong) on Championship Sunday.

Mahomes-Kelce connection at its best, yet again

Everyone knows it’s coming, and yet even after six years of incredible plays between Patrick Mahomes and his top target, Travis Kelce, this duo remains unstoppable. The Baltimore Ravens learned that lesson early and often on Sunday. The Ravens rarely give up points on opponents’ first drives, but Mahomes and Kelce made marching down the field look easy.

Mahomes’ first pass of Sunday’s game was a quick four-yard toss to Kelce. A few minutes later, he turned to Kelce again on a gutsy go-for-it call from head coach Andy Reid on fourth and two, which Kelce caught for 13 yards. And two minutes after that, Kelce caught a 19-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring.

The touchdown marked the eighth straight playoff game in which the Chiefs have scored on their opening drive (six of those scores have been touchdowns). It also added another TD to the QB-TE duo’s historic total, now at 17, which is more than any other tandem in NFL post-season history (their 16^th, scored last week against Buffalo, set a new record).

Like his quarterback, Kelce’s best performances have come when playing under the brightest lights. He’s now scored six touchdowns in six AFC Championship appearances, and has 19 touchdowns in 20 playoff games. He (unsurprisingly) led Kansas City in receptions (11) and yards (116) on Sunday. His eighth career game with 100-plus yards ties him with the great Jerry Rice.

Undisciplined Ravens come unravelled in fourth quarter

Few things went right for the home team in Baltimore on Sunday — Lamar Jackson & Co. couldn’t muster much offence against the Chiefs’ strong unit, with their usually dominant run game registering just 81 yards while the offence was on the field for just 22 minutes. And yet, thanks to a strong defensive effort that held the Chiefs scoreless in the second half, the game remained within reach throughout most of the matchup.

Unfortunately for the Ravens, it wasn’t just the Chiefs’ excellent defence that stood in their way. The Ravens didn’t do themselves any favours, taking too many penalties — most notably, four personal fouls — in what was a chippy, undisciplined outing from the start. Baltimore was called nine times, resulting in 95 yards lost. 

Things took a turn in the fourth quarter when the Ravens turned the ball over in the endzone in back-to-back drives — first, a Zay Flowers fumble that resulted in a touchback, and then an interception off an ill-advised throw from Jackson into triple-coverage.

Flowers’ big breakout turns into bad breakdown

Ravens rookie wide receiver Zay Flowers has been impressive all season, quickly becoming a top target for Jackson this year. And Sunday against the Chiefs, he was rolling. Flowers wasn’t just Jackson’s top target in this game — he was the lone WR targeted through much of it, and for the better part of three quarters he was making good on all the time in the spotlight.

Then, late in the third quarter, Flowers caught a remarkable 54-yard reception only to have it reduced to a 39-yard gain after being called for taunting Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed. Later in the drive, after catching an eight-yard pass, Flowers dove for the end zone only to have Sneed punch the ball from his hands, forcing a fumble in the end zone that saw his touchdown try turned into a touchback. (Turns out, karma really is the guy on the Chiefs.)

Flowers then took out his frustrations on the sidelined, which let to him suffering a cut on his hand when he punched the bench. Flowers finished the game with five catches for 115 yards and Baltimore’s lone TD (scored in the first quarter)… and perhaps, a lesson learned, too.

Chiefs chasing history

Kansas City has been making history all post-season, and they made a little more on Sunday:

Two weeks from now, the Chiefs will attempt another historic feat when they try to become the first franchise to win back-to-back Super Bowls since the New England Patriots did so in 2003 and 2004.

Detroit’s hot start had San Francisco on its heels

Sunday’s game couldn’t have gotten off to a better start for the Detroit Lions, who needed all of four plays to march down the field for an opening-drive score from Jameson Williams that quieted the home team shortly after kick-off.

Running back David Montgomery made it 14-0 as the first quarter wound down, the Lions running all over Levi’s Stadium while quarterback Jared Goff showed off picture-perfect precision with his passes. The 49ers showed a little life early in the second quarter when Christian McCaffrey ran in a score, but Detroit responded with a rushing TD of its own thanks to rookie Jahmyr Gibbs, followed by a field goal to close out the first half with a 17-point lead.

Thirty minutes into the NFC Championship game, it looked like a foregone conclusion that the 2023 NFL season would be ending the same way it started: With the Chiefs and Lions on the prime-time stage.

And then, the second half started…

49ers make quick work of Lions’ lead

For the second straight week, San Francisco found itself on the losing end of a playoff game in the third quarter. And for the second straight week, the 49ers rallied for the rousing victory.

It took all of eight minutes in the third quarter for San Francisco to undo the damage of this game’s first 30. Everything that went wrong for the 49ers in the first half went right in the second: A Jake Moody field goal in the third quarter after he’d missed his attempt in the first; a Brandon Aiyuk touchdown that followed a catch only the Football Gods can explain; a second score for McCaffrey, followed by an extra point to lock up the game at 24 points apiece and send all the game’s momentum careening in favour of the 49ers. And any attempts by the Lions to respond resulted in dropped passes or quick three-and-outs.

But none of this would’ve been possible without… a ladybug?

The doink that saved the day

Every great comeback features a pivotal play that changes everything, and in San Francisco, it was a fortuitous bounce off the face mask of Lions defender Kindle Vildor and into the outstretched arms of Aiyuk to put San Francisco in scoring position.

After pulling off the most remarkable play of the day, Aiyuk gave us the greatest post-game quotes, too. Asked after the game about the play, he said it was a ladybug that brought him luck: