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The Kansas City Chiefs will play the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl

Kansas City Chiefs tight Travis Kelce, left, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes celebrate the AFC conference win on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.
Nick Wass
/
AP
Kansas City Chiefs tight Travis Kelce, left, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes celebrate the AFC conference win on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.

The Kansas City Chiefs will play the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl after each won in their respective conferences on Sunday.

The matchup features a David vs. Goliath story of quarterbacks, with 49ers' Brock Purdy — picked last in the 2022 draft — up against two-time Super Bowl champ Patrick Mahomes on the Chiefs.

It's the Chiefs' fourth trip to the Bowl in the past five seasons, giving the defending champions a chance to be the first team to win consecutive Super Bowl championships since the New England Patriots did it almost two decades ago. The Chiefs have won three Super Bowls.

The 49ers have five Super Bowl wins, but haven't won since 1995. It was the Chiefs who stopped them from their last chance at the trophy in 2020.

The 2024 Super Bowl will be held on Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nev. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

The Chiefs held off the Baltimore Ravens 17-10 to win the AFC championship on Sunday.

Quarterback Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce kept connecting to help push the Chiefs to the lead. Last week, the dynamic duo broke the record for most post-season touchdown passes between a quarterback and receiver, reported NPR member station KCUR, which was previously held by former Patriots Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski.

But credit goes to the Chiefs' defense for holding down the lead to win the ticket to the Super Bowl.

"Since the playoffs began this month, the Chiefs have quieted doubts over whether they could shake off their regular season weaknesses," KCUR reported.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy celebrates with the trophy after their win against the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday.
David J. Phillip / AP
/
AP
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy celebrates with the trophy after their win against the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday.

In the NFC title game, the Lions put their top-ranked offense to work, but the Niners climbed out of a 17-point deficit in their third straight conference championship game, to beat the Detroit Lions 34-31.

San Francisco quarterback Purdy has come a long way from "Mr. Irrelevant." In only his second NFL season, he'll start in a Super Bowl at just 24 years old. It's Mahomes' fourth Super Bowl appearance.

Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Corrected: January 29, 2024 at 12:00 AM EST
An earlier version of this story said that Brock Purdy is a rookie. He is in his second NFL season.
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Emma Bowman
[Copyright 2024 NPR]