“We can win so many different ways,” said Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, after playing a relatively idle game. “Raheem [Mostert], those guys up front, the tight ends obviously were just dominating tonight. It was fun.”
“I just woke up like it was any other game,” Mostert said. “Once we all get in a groove, we’re just going to keep it riding, keep it going, and that’s what we did.”
The Niners emerge Super Bowl-bound for the first time since Colin Kaepernick paved the way seven years ago. In the franchise’s six previous Super Bowl appearances, the 49ers have only blown the title once.
Fans throughout the Bay Area celebrated the Niners win Sunday night. Among them was fan Karen Taylor, who watched the game at a San Francisco sports bar. She said it was exciting to see the team turn around from a losing season last year to now being in this year’s Super Bowl.
“The Super Bowl parties are gonna be amazing,” Taylor said. “People are gonna remember when they used to go to super bowl parties, but now there’s a whole new generation of people just learning the 49ers again. We’re seeing it both times.”
The Niners are the second team in NFL history to make the Super Bowl after a year losing at least 12 games.
Kansas City ends a 50-year drought
The Kansas City Chiefs knocked out the Tennessee Titans 35-24 in the AFC Championship game on Sunday to secure their first trip to the Super Bowl in 50 years.
The Titans jumped to an early 17-7 lead in the first half, but Kansas City clawed their way back propelled by the play of star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, who threw for 294 yards and three touchdowns. Mahomes, who was born a quarter century after the Chiefs’ last trip to the Super Bowl, sealed the game with a fourth quarter, 60-yard pass to wide receiver Sammy Watkins.
“We’re not done yet,” Mahomes said after the game. “We’re going to get it.”
The victory was made extra sweet for Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, who after the game got to hoist the Lamar Hunt Trophy — named after his father and the team’s founder — which was presented to him for the AFC title.
“This trophy belongs to the best fans in the National Football League,” Hunt said to the hometown crowd at Arrowhead Stadium.
“We love every minute of this, and we appreciate every minute of this, but it’s not done,” added Chiefs coach Andy Reid, whose last Super Bowl trip with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2004 ended in a New England Patriots victory.
It’s the Chiefs’ third attempt chasing Super Bowl title, having done so successfully once in 1970. The Chiefs lost to the Packers, 35-10, in the first-ever Super Bowl in 1967. Three years later, Kansas City took their first Super Bowl victory in a matchup with the Minnesota Vikings.
Where to watch
The big game is set to take place at Hard Rock Stadium, the home of the Miami Dolphins on Feb. 2. FOX will air the game, which kicks off at 6:30 p.m. ET. Demi Lovato is signed on to sing the national anthem at the pregame show; Jennifer Lopez and Shakira will take the halftime stage.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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KQED News staff contributed to this report.
