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Real-time coverage for today’s Chiefs vs. 49ers game
The Kansas City Chiefs will look to become the first back-to-back Super Bowl champion in two decades when they take on the San Francisco 49ers today in Las Vegas.
Super Bowl LVIII is a rematch of Super Bowl LIV in 2020, when the Chiefs and star quarterback Patrick Mahomes beat the Niners 31-20 to bring Kansas City its first Super Bowl in a half-century.
The two head coaches who patrolled the sidelines four years ago are still at the helm, but their teams come into Sunday with vastly different narratives. Chiefs coach Andy Reid has a 3-0 record against the Niners’ Kyle Shanahan — who has earned a reputation as a quality regular season coach who struggles with game management in the playoffs.
If Shanahan is going to finally defeat Reid, he will need to find a way to slow down Mahomes and his favorite target, tight end Travis Kelce, the two of whom made history in the AFC title game against the Baltimore Ravens two weeks ago by connecting on their 16th postseason passing touchdown, the most ever playoff touchdowns by a quarterback-receiver duo.
A win Sunday would give the Chiefs their third Super Bowl in five years, vaulting them into NFL dynasty status and putting Mahomes into rarified air as one of only three quarterbacks ever to win three Super Bowls before the age of 30, the other two being Tom Brady and Troy Aikman.
When asked this past week about the possibility of one day tying or surpassing Brady’s seven Super Bowl wins, the 28-year-old Mahomes deflected, saying he’s “a long ways away still.”
“I mean, I’m not even close to halfway, so I haven’t put a lot of thought into it,” Mahomes said. “I mean, your goal is to be the best player that you can be. I know I’m blessed to be around a lot of great players around me. And so, right now, it’s doing whatever I can to beat a great 49ers team and try to get that third ring. And then if you ask me that question in 15 years, and I’ll see if I can get close to seven.”
The Niners, whose quarterback Brock Purdy was famously 2022’s Mr. Irrelevant — the last pick of that draft — are hoping to finally end their 29-year Super Bowl drought and win their first title since 1995.
“I know a couple of the guys that got drafted before me,” the 24-year-old Purdy told reporters in Las Vegas. “But I’ve never held a grudge or anything. I’m a believer that God has a plan for everybody, and I fell last for a reason.”
The Chiefs reached the Super Bowl the hard way, with back-to-back road playoff wins against the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round and then the Ravens in the conference championship — the first time in his career Mahomes has been forced to play road playoff games.
The Chiefs and Niners both feature top-five defenses, according to Pro Football Reference. While outside of Kelce, Mahomes’ supporting cast has been weak, Purdy has one of the most talented and explosive skill-position groups in recent memory with running back Christian McCaffrey, wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, and tight end George Kittle.
But while the Niners earned a No. 1 seed and home-field advantage, they struggled mightily against seemingly inferior NFC competition in the playoffs despite their talent, barely eking out wins against the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round, and then the Detroit Lions in the NFC title game.
But maybe even bigger than the conversation surrounding what happens on the field Sunday will be the hype around football’s most famous couple, Kelce and pop superstar Taylor Swift.
Swift, who last weekend set a record with her fourth Album of the Year win at the Grammys, performed Saturday night in Tokyo as part of her Eras Tour, and fans had been hotly debating whether she would make it back to the U.S. in time to attend Sunday’s game.
Thanks to a 17-hour time difference between Tokyo and Vegas, she made it back to the U.S. with plenty of time to spare, arriving in Los Angeles Saturday afternoon on a private jet.
With parking spots for private jets at Vegas-area airports completely booked months in advance for Super Bowl weekend, Swift was likely to be driven from L.A. to Vegas for the big game.
Super Bowl LVIII will air on CBS and Nickelodeon and stream on Paramount+ on Feb. 11 from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.
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Long before comic book characters dominated movie screens, actor Christopher Reeve made the world believes in superheroes with the 1978 classic “Superman.”
Reeve died in 2004, nearly a decade after an accident re-shaped his life. “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” is using interviews with family and friends and never-before-seen home videos to explore his real-life heroism.
Reeve started his career on the stage, studying at the prestigious Juilliard School and living with comedian Robin Williams. The pair had a friendship that was “more like a brotherhood,” said Reeve’s son Matthew. Reeve was in awe of Williams’ energy and versatility, Matthew Reeve said, but audiences quickly clued into Reeve’s own star power when he took on the role of the Man of Steel.
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To his children, though, he “was just dad,” Matthew Reeve said. The documentary explores how Matthew Reeve and his sister Alexandra Reeve Givens grew up watching their dad take the stage as Superman. “Super/Man” also reveals their heartbreak over their parents’ breakup and the joy they found when Reeve re-married. He tied the knot with Dana Reeve in 1992, and the pair welcomed another child, William Reeve, later that year.
“Dana was sunshine,” Alexandra Reeve Givens recalled. “She just brought joy with her wherever she was and could find it even in the darkest moments.”
Those dark moments came suddenly, when in 1995, a near-fatal horseback riding accident left Reeve paralyzed from the neck down. The documentary allows viewers to see, for the first time, what went on out of the public’s view. Reeve can be heard talking about how he “ruined (his) life and everybody else’s,” but in a touching moment, old friend Robin Williams is seen visiting him in the hospital.
“Robin showed him ‘Hey, you’re still you,'” Alexandra Reeve Givens said. “‘You still have this foundation of friendship and people around you, who adore you. And you’re going to find those fun moments in life again.'”
That support from friends and family re-ignited Reeve’s legacy of activism. He made appearances at the Democratic National Convention and the 68th Academy Awards in 1996, about a year after the accident. Matthew Reeve said watching his father address his industry peers at the Oscars was “one of (his) most proud moments.”
“It was just a production for him to get out of bed every morning, let alone get across the country and go out in public for the first time,” Matthew Reeve said. “It was a big deal. It was a big deal to him, but it was also a big deal to the entire disability community. We stayed up in London till like three in the morning to watch that live. It’s a fond memory.”
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Reeve also went on to launch what would become the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing research into spiral cord injury and help individuals and families impacted by paralysis. It was his dad’s mission to find a cure, Matthew Reeve said, while his stepmother wanted to focus on improving the lives of paralyzed people and their families. The foundation and Reeve’s platform helped bring unprecedented attention and funding to spinal cord injury research.
Reeve even kept acting and realized his lifelong dream of directing with the 1997 HBO movie “In the Gloaming.” Reeve died in 2004 from heart failure at 52.
“There is a huge amount of great actors and actresses out there, where their filmography might be amazing and what they achieve on a cultural level might be amazing, but have they actually achieved anything really as a human that moves the needle for our society?” said filmmaker Ian Bonhote, who made the documentary with Peter Ettedgui. “And Chris has done both things.”
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” will open in theaters on Friday, Oct. 11.
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