From Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce to Brock Purdy leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl, the 2023 NFL season has been one to remember. In honor of a season of controversial refereeing, a less-than-ideal outcome of the Championship games per fans online, and a love story that will go down in history, let’s recap this season in preparation for the biggest stage in sports.
The Kansas City Chiefs have had a tumultuous season full of doubtful NFL fans and losses to division opponents such as the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders. There was a lot of outside noise regarding the future of the Kansas City Chiefs with many critics of wide receivers dropping passes and concerns that quarterback Patrick Mahomes was not able to meet his potential. On top of these issues, the media and fans have been very critical of the relationship between star tight end Travis Kelce and pop phenomenon Taylor Swift, claiming that Swift was a distraction to the team and hindering Kelce’s statistics. Nevertheless, the Chiefs rose above these problems by winning their division and defeating the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens on their path to the Super Bowl.
“Kansas City defeated the former Chiefs player Tyreek Hill and his new team the Miami Dolphins,” junior Chiefs fan Chase Kaufman said. “After that, the Chiefs went on the road, defeating the Buffalo Bills and the top-seeded team in the AFC, the Baltimore Ravens.”
Throughout the season, the Chiefs have had many people doubt their ability to make the Super Bowl, and they have risen above the criticism. Patrick Mahomes has made history by being the youngest quarterback to ever appear in four Super Bowls at age 28.
“The Chiefs are led by reigning MVP and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes who is destined for greatness,” Kaufman explained. “Even if the Chiefs don’t win, they will be back to building an even bigger dynasty since they have achieved a staggering four Super Bowl appearances in the last five years. That has only happened twice ever in history: the 1991-1994 Buffalo Bills and the 2015-2019 New England Patriots.”
Despite the Chiefs fans remaining passionate about their team, the Chiefs are often viewed as the antagonists of this NFL season due to the Kelce and Swift relationship that has taken the media by storm. Ever since Swift was shown attending her first Chiefs game on September 24, many fans of other teams have complained about the NFL broadcasts showing Swift too often and criticized the league for not prioritizing the game over her presence.
“Travis Kelce running to Taylor Swift brings rage to my heart,” junior and Cleveland Browns fan Timmy Mann said. “Hopefully the 49ers win to clear that feeling.”
Speaking of the San Francisco 49ers, they, too, have had quite the journey to reach the Super Bowl.
Brock Purdy has led the 49ers as quarterback despite being the last overall pick of the 2022 NFL draft. Players who are picked last in the NFL draft every year are nicknamed Mr. Irrelevant and usually do not garner high expectations from the football world. The reputation of “Mr. Irrelevant” has been proven wrong by Purdy who has worked his way up to a 21-5 record as the starting quarterback of the 49ers and has led the 49ers to the Super Bowl in his second year as the full-time starter.
Purdy is often criticized for being a ‘system quarterback quarterback who functions best under a specific style of offense. This is due to the fact that the 49ers have two star wide receivers– Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel–star tight end George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey, who is statistically the best running back in the NFL. The talent that surrounds Purdy has resulted in many doubting his talent, and he has spent his entire career being the underdog.
The 49ers placed at the top of the NFC with a record of 12-5 in the regular season and defeated the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions in order to reach the Super Bowl.
Interestingly, Super Bowl LVIII consists of the same two teams that faced off against each other in Super Bowl LIV in 2019. The Chiefs defeated the 49ers 31-20 in that game, and the 49ers are hoping to succeed in this rematch. Fans have been critical of this repeated matchup because they often prefer seeing different teams at the top, but nevertheless, this game will be one to remember.
Super Bowl LVIII will take place on February 11 in Las Vegas, and Usher will be headlining the famous halftime show. There is no doubt that the biggest stage in sports will have all eyes focused on it.
