SPORTS & MORE

CHIEFS, EAGLES ARE SUPER BOWL- BOUND

We now know who will play in the Super Bowl.

It’ll be the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles kicking off around 6:40 p.m. on Sunday, Feb 12 in Phoenix, Arizona. It’ll be televised on Fox for those of us who can’t afford to be there in person.

I bought a ticket at regular price for a Super Bowl back in the day in Detroit. It cost me $40.

The cheapest tickets for Super Bowl LVII will run you about $4,366 — each.

I found the conference championship games last Sunday, Jan. 29, enjoyable, even though the Cincinnati Bengals, for whom I was rooting, lost the American Conference title to the Chiefs by a field goal with 23 seconds left, 23-20.

The Bengals and Chiefs came to the final minutes tied at 20.

Kansas City had the ball, but a long way to go in less than a minute to get to the 35-yard line, which would put them in field-goal range.

Then the Chiefs got a lucky break. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, with a supposed gimpy ankle, was forced to run toward the right sideline with seconds and still a distance to go.

Mahomes got out of bounds, where Bengals linebacker Joseph Ossai barreled into him with a late hit.

The move elicited a collective moan among the group with whom I was watching. It was a costly 15-yard penalty that gave the Chiefs a first down and put them in field goal range.

We had been preparing for overtime, but then awaited a field goal that would decide the game.

The Kansas City coaching staff knew what was needed. Everyone knew what was needed. The Chiefs had used up all but three seconds and gained all the yardage they could before the winning field goal sailed straight through the uprights.

On the Bengals’ bench sat Ossai, head in his hands and tears streaming down his face after his penalty ended a game destined for overtime.

Later that night, the Philadelphia Eagles, with quarterback Jalen Hurts, 1,000-yard rusher Miles Sanders and their notoriously rowdy hometown crowd, destroyed the San Francisco 49ers, 31-7, to win the National Football Conference title.

The 49ers in that game lost quarterback Brock Purdy to an elbow injury that needs surgery.

Purdy had been undefeated since Week 13, when he was tapped to replace Jimmy Garoppolo, who broke his foot.

With Purdy injured on Jan. 29, San Francisco tapped third-string quarterback Josh Johnson, then put Purdy back in, despite his limited throwing ability, with no success.

“The Birds ran it down their throats, knocked out two quarterbacks, and cruised to their second Super Bowl in six seasons,” Philadelphia Inquirer sports columnist Marcus Hayes wrote after the win. “Nobody weaned on cheesesteaks and scrapple would’ve wanted the Eagles to win it any other way.”