The Super Bowl matchup has finally arrived. After months of games to decide who would be here, it’s the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers who will go head to head in Super Bowl 58. They played each other in Super Bowl 54, which saw Mahomes and the Chiefs have a late comeback to win the game. This time, the 49ers get another chance.

Starting in the afternoon, Lamar Jackson attempted to defeat Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs, with possibly the best chance of anyone yet. The Ravens were coming into the game red hot, having blown out several playoff teams in the last few weeks, with the league’s best record and home-field advantage. However, Mahomes was still on the other sideline and he reminded everyone of that when he went down on his first drive and made every throw, including a touchdown to Travis Kelce to make it 7-0 right away. Jackson wasn’t gonna just go away though. He converted some big plays on the drive, including a 30-yard bomb to Zay Flowers on a play that looked dead to tie the game. Mahomes then went back on the field and made some ridiculous throws, as he always does, to get the Chiefs right back in the red zone, where Isiah Pacheco ran it in from two yards away to reclaim the Kansas City lead, 14-7. The Chiefs would add a field goal to make it 17-7, which would be the halftime score. But after that, points were extremely rare. Both teams had one of the best defenses in the league and held the other team’s offense to virtually nothing in the second half. The Ravens would get a field goal in the fourth quarter, but a costly interception by Jackson sealed the Chiefs win. Jackson will likely win MVP this season and has been incredible for the Ravens this season, but it just wasn’t quite enough to dethrone Mahomes.

While points may have been hard to come by in Baltimore, that was not the case in San Francisco. The Lions, playing in their first NFC Championship since 1991, were trying to advance to their first Super Bowl in franchise history. They started with the ball, as they drove right down the field and scored immediately, as Jameson Williams took an end around 42 yards to give Detroit a 7-0 lead. After a missed field goal, Detroit got the ball back and ran it in again, this time with David Montgomery for a 14-0 lead. Needing to get something, Brock Purdy made some good throws as Christian McCaffery got into the endzone to cut the lead in half, 14-7. After a Purdy interception, the Lions used Jahmyr Gibbs to get another touchdown and the 14-point lead back, 21-7. A field goal to end the half made it 24-7, as a stunned 49ers crowd in Santa Clara couldn’t believe what they were seeing. The second half was a different story though, with the 49ers scoring a field goal out of the break, followed by a Brandon Aiyuk circus catch and touchdown, a Lions fumble and a second McCaffery touchdown to tie the game, 24-24. Despite the Lions dominating the first half, the 49ers dominated the second half. After the 49ers kicked a field goal, a costly fourth-down decision by the Lions paved the way for San Francisco to get another touchdown to make it 34-24. Detroit got another touchdown with Williams, but a failed onside kick sealed the win and a return to the SuperBowl for the 49ers, winning 34-31.

While Mahomes is going to his fourth Super Bowl in six years, the 49ers had lost their previous two NFC Championships, on the road against the Rams and Eagles. This time, they got the job done, but their toughest test is still ahead of them, as the Cheifs will have something to say about their perfect ending.