On February 11, the 2024 Super Bowl occurred in Las Vegas, concluding this year’s football season. The seven teams who competed in the postseason from the National Football Conference were the San Francisco 49ers, the Dallas Cowboys, the Detroit Lions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Philadelphia Eagles, the LA Rams and the Green Bay Packers while the American Football Conference sent the Baltimore Ravens, the Buffalo Bills, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Houston Texans, the Cleveland Browns, the Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This postseason included much excitement from the Bay Area since their team, the 49ers, had won the NFC division during the regular season. Fans tuned in to the games in the hopes of seeing their team advance.
“I think this is the best our team has really ever been,” said sophomore Aleeya Baqai. “I think we have a lot of great players and our offense is good [and] our defense has always been amazing. And I think we have a real chance at winning this year, even given the competition that we’re going against.”
The 49ers, as well as the Ravens, had a bye for the first week of games, meaning they did not have to play since they had won their division. Six teams were eliminated from January 13 through the 15 with eight remaining.
The weekend of January 20 held games for the remaining teams. After a nail-biting match against the Packers, the 49ers emerged victorious, ready to take on the Lions, who had beaten the Buccaneers. The weekend also set up a contest between the Ravens and Chiefs for the 28, both of whom had beaten their opponents.
“I think it was interesting for the Packers because their main quarterback got injured and so they had another one, yet they still made it to the postseason and everything,” Baqai said.
The next weekend only hosted two games, and they were to determine who the champions of the NFC and ACF would be. These teams would go to the Super Bowl the following week. The first match was between the Chiefs and the Ravens, with the Chiefs coming out on top. Then, a few hours later, the 49ers played the Lions with the Bay’s team eventually winning.
After the conference championships, teams and fans began preparations for the Super Bowl, which would be the final football match until fall of 2024. Many people would be hosting or attending parties for the event. Since the 49ers were playing, fans in the Bay Area were especially excited as they cheered their team on.
However, the game did not end well for the Californians, with the Chiefs eventually winning 22-25 in overtime after a hard-fought match, cementing themselves in history as back-to-back champions in 2023 and 2024.
