Super Bowl LIX is set for Feb. 9 at the Superdome, and the road to New Orleans will go through Kansas City in the AFC and Detroit in the NFC.
One of those postseason routes has become as routine as quarterback Patrick Mahomes leading the way to yet another last-minute rally. The other one is still a little hard to believe.
The Lions, a long-suffering team for so long until last year’s surprising wild-card run ended with a narrow loss in the NFC championship game, secured a No. 1 seed with a 31-9 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night at Detroit’s Ford Field. It was the final game of the NFL’s 2024 regular season.
Running back Jahmyr Gibbs, a former Chattanooga-area prep standout for the Dalton Catamounts, scored four touchdowns in the division matchup to help the Lions (15-2) clinch the NFC North title while also earning a first-round bye and home-field advantage until the Super Bowl as the conference’s top seed.
Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs (15-2) had already locked up the AFC’s No. 1 spot a week and a half earlier with a 29-10 road win against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas. It’s the fourth time in seven seasons the Chiefs can count on being at Arrowhead through the AFC portion of the playoffs — they also had home-field advantage in the 2018, 2020 and 2022 seasons — and they’ll try to use it to earn an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl championship.