After freezing games and wild card chaos, the final match-up set for the 54th Super Bowl. Now that the playoffs are over and the final game is in a couple of weeks, it is time to take a look back at the 2019-2020 National Football League season. Some teams soared, and others decided that they will try again next year. A six-seed team defeated both a one- and a two-seed team in the playoffs, and five teams have already fired their head coaches.
The Baltimore Ravens finished the 2019-2020 season with a record of 14-2, a league-leading and franchise-best record. The team, led by young quarterback Lamar Jackson, was expected to make it far in the playoffs. Another team fans expected to succeed was the New England Patriots. Finishing the season with a record of 12-4, the reigning Super Bowl champions have dominated the playoffs in recent years.
What was not expected was for the Tennessee Titans to steamroll their way through both the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens in the playoffs. The Titans, who began the season led by quarterback Marcus Mariota and finished with Ryan Tannehill, ended the season with a record of 9-7, making them the six-seed in the American Conference. The Titans played the New England Patriots in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, in which the Titans beat the Patriots 20-13 in front of a cold and stunned New England crowd to move on to the next round, where they were set to play the number one team in the NFL. The last time a six-seed beat a one-seed was in the 2010 season when the Green Bay Packers and the New York Jets defeated the one-seeds of each conference.
The Titans went on to silence the Baltimore crowd with a 28-14 victory over the Ravens to land the Titans a spot in the American Conference final. The Titans are set to play the red-hot Kansas City Chiefs, who, led by young quarterback Patrick Mahomes, defeated the Houston Texans 51-31 after the Texans beat the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round.
The National Conference had three teams who ended the season with impressive 13-3 records, and two remain after the New Orleans Saints were defeated by the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card round. The Seattle Seahawks beat the Philadelphia Eagles 17-9 but were defeated by the Green Bay Packers 28-23 in the Divisional round. And the one-seed San Francisco 49ers defeated the Vikings in the Divisional round 27-10 to set up the matchups for the conference finals.
The Kansas City Chiefs played the Tennessee Titans in the American Football Conference Final on Sunday in Kansas City, where spectators of all sorts were bundled up to see which team would head to the Super Bowl. The Chiefs were down by 10 points early in the game, but did what they do best and came back from another deficit to defeat the Titans 35-24. Later in the night, the San Francisco 49ers shot out of the gate right away with a 27 point lead over the Green Bay Packers after two quarters. Green Bay fought back, but the 49ers powered through to clinch their spot in the Superbowl with a 37-20 win over the Packers in the National Football Conference Championship.
The Chiefs have had 22 playoff appearances and one Super Bowl win back in 1969. The 49ers, on the other hand, have appeared in 27 playoffs and have five Super Bowl titles to show for it in 1981, 1984, 1988, 1989 and 1994.
Out of all the teams, the 49ers have the most postseason and Super Bowl experience, but the Chiefs have the youth and zeal that can push them to claim their first Super Bowl title in 50 years. Both teams have the talent, defense, and offense that allowed them to put up big numbers throughout the playoffs. Who will prove they are the best in the NFL? The Super Bowl takes place on Sunday, Feb. 2 at 6:30 pm in Miami.
